


The L Word

by corruptedkid (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Future, F/F, Not my best work at all, Slow Burn, not really major character death but hella people die, rosemary, there are a lot of things i would change if i could do it over, this fic is really old urgh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 17:16:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 73,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5299688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/corruptedkid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Lalonde lives in a land of blood and secrecy. Since before she can remember she has been taught how to torture in the most painful ways, kill in the subtlest, and never let anyone close to her heart. But that all changes when she's sent to kill a girl named Kanaya. One little girl, and suddenly everything is complicated. One girl, and suddenly, the walls around Rose's heart begin to crack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lawless

In the room, there was darkness. Concealed within the darkness, there were five girls, sitting in a semicircle. If you listened carefully, you could hear each one breathing. The air was full of their silent questions and furtive glances towards the door. Every girl was thinking of one name-- “Vriska.”

The door slid open, and the shadow of a girl passed in. 

“Why the hell are you all sitting in the dark? It’s like a funeral in here.” The girl snapped her fingers, and half the lights blinked on. 

Vriska Serket was more of a force than a girl. She walked with certainty, setting herself down in the circle with a _thump_. “Will somebody say something already? God.”

One of the other girls spoke up. “So, are you going to tell us what happened?”

Vriska smirked. “Oh, I don’t know, Terezi, maybe I won’t. But just because I’m so nice…”

She leaned forward, and everyone unconsciously held their breath. “The doc said I should pass along this message: pretty soon we’ll be starting the next stage of our training.” She lowered her voice. “It’s a new batch of upgrades. They’re all unique, according to our aspect.” 

Excited murmurs broke out among the group. “What did you get?” “What do you mean?” Most importantly, “Who’s next?”

Vriska flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Mine? I think I got the best. You know what I can do?” She waited for a response, and when none came, continued. “I can steal people’s data now. All their screen files, all their credits, everything.”

There was only one girl who didn’t let out a gasp of envy. Vriska frowned at her. “Rose, what’s your deal? Aren’t you pumped?”

Rose didn’t answer. She let out a puff of air through her nose. “I don’t know. I just… Will it really be unique, considering we have the same aspect and all?”

Vriska’s eyes narrowed. “It’s funny you should say that. I asked the same thing. And do you know what he said?” Rose shrugged. She was perfectly aware of the sudden tension between them, but didn’t acknowledge it. 

“There’ve always been the two of us. Two kids born under Light, when everyone else here has a separate aspect. It’s kinda funny, the doc being such a picky collector and all. Why would he want two, I asked?” Vriska’s face was half-illuminated by the still darkened part of the room. It made her angular features sinister when they curved into a smile. 

“He told me anyone can be replaced. There doesn’t have to be two.”

***

Two heads shot up. Roxy and Meenah were huddled next to the latter’s pod, frozen at the sight of Rose. 

“What?” Roxy blurted out. “No, we weren’t talking about you! We were just, uh…” her voice trailed off, and she sighed. “We were just wondering when you’re going to get your upgrade. I mean, everyone else already has them, so why are they waiting on you? We weren’t saying anything bad about you, we just--”

“It’s okay,” Rose cut her off. “It has to be soon. I can wait as long as they see fit to make me.”

Rose could handle waiting. But she still spent her every moment wondering. _What’ll it be? Will it be the same as Vriska’s? Hacking could be very useful._

No, they wouldn’t be the same. Anything with multiple copies had a lesser value, that much was common knowledge. If she were identical to Vriska, she would be dispensable. Having the same aspect was bad enough, and certainly strange… 

_“He told me there didn’t have to be two.”_

Rose pushed the memories out of her mind, making room for a new thought.

 _Will I get this upgrade at all?_

She opened the lid to her pod and climbed inside. “It has to be soon,” she repeated. “Maybe even tomorrow. It’s getting late, we should sleep, don’t you think?”

***

Rose was waiting outside the operating room, accompanied by the only companions she had ever known.

“I’m kind of scared to get this upgrade,” Roxy admitted. “I mean, it’s not like the old ones we got for our aspects, the kind that just pop into the neuroport. I heard this one needs actual surgery to put in.”

“You shouldn’t be scared,” Vriska snapped. “Whatever the doc gives us, I’m sure it’s valuable to our training. You want to be good at your job, right?”

Roxy nodded. “Of course! It was just a stupid thought. Nevermind.”

“Yeah. If I get hired to take down a dictator, I want to be ready,” Porrim said. 

Vriska rolled her eyes. “Idiot. Do you think anyone wanting to do _good_ would hire assassins like us? Our entire lives scream ‘black market’.” 

“You never know, though...”

There was a quiet _ping_ , and Rose could see the lights of a visual interface being opened in Porrim’s eyes. “Looks like it’s my turn.”

The door slid sleekly open for her to enter. Porrim stepped through without hesitation, and it immediately shut behind her.

None of the girls who went through the door in their faltering procession came out afterwards. This, Rose thought as she waited, could be a bad sign. After an hour or so, she was left on her own. 

Rose startled when the door flew open, indicating it was her turn. An operating table was waiting for her inside the room. She sat down and leaned her head back on the headrest. 

There was a small table next to her with a tray resting on it. Tiny instruments littered the tray, made for picking apart the wires and hardware that made up the most important part of a human brain. She had seen instruments of the like many times before. What was more unsettling was the sight of a sharp scalpel. Roxy had been right about the upgrade requiring surgery. Rose swallowed hard. 

But the scalpel didn’t look _that_ sharp, she thought. In fact, it looked rather dull. Its edges were soft and blurry, along with the rest of her vision. She took this as a comfort as she breathed in and slipped into unconsciousness. 

When she woke, she would forget what it meant to feel comfort. She would forget any feeling at all. 

***

Rose could tell something important was coming. Her typical training schedule consisted of psychology, combat, weapons, academics, and strategy-- but it had recently expanded to include a handful of subdivisions. The difficulty of each subject seemed to increase daily. By the looks of her fellow trainees, she wasn’t the only one experiencing a spike; Vriska herself had walked out of a combat session covered in bruises. 

Normally, the extra strain would bring many tempers to the breaking point. Rose could distinctly remember cat fights breaking out in previous years, but now, petty disagreements seemed to be the last thing anyone was thinking about. Ever since that surgery so many weeks ago, no one had argued at all. There was no sarcasm, no complaining, no admittance to any sort of feeling. Everyone was numb. 

This might have scared Rose, if she weren’t as empty as the rest of them. It was rather pleasant to not have a single worry. And it certainly helped her when the new tricks she was learning were put to use. 

As with the aspect upgrades, and the ones after it that seemed to affect emotion, Rose was the last to be called in. Her comrades had told her of a test, but refused to divulge any more details. She didn’t mind. She merely went to the testing room when she was called, going over knife technique in her head, imagining possible testing scenarios. It never occured to her to be nervous.

With a small _pop,_ the transport pad deposited Rose in front of the door to the testing room. At the same time, a message appeared on her visual interface. She blinked to open it. 

_No need to go inside,_ it read. _Your test today will take place in a different part of the facility._

She stepped back onto the pad, waiting for it to take her somewhere new.

The place she arrived in momentarily was new indeed. She had never been inside this hall before, in all her years of instruction. The heavy steel door in front of her was identical to all those she had seen, but she knew it wasn’t the same. The air here was different. It stung her nose as she breathed in, colder and more acidic than she recognized. 

The door slid open to reveal a darkened room. Rose paused before going inside.

 _Attackers, maybe? Or a simulation. We haven’t had a drowning simulation yet, maybe it’s that. I can beat it if I find a way to break the container and let the water out… But maybe that’s too predictable?_ She couldn’t think of what could be inside, so she threw caution to the wind, and peeked her head in. 

No hidden assailants lept out to meet her, nor the telltale hum of a simulation kicking in. Rose’s eyes automatically adjusted to the darkness, pupils dilating mechanically. 

There was no game for her to outsmart. No obstacle course designed to test her endurance. Instead of anything she would have expected, a small boy sat before her. 

He was slumped on a concrete bench built into the wall, matted hair hiding his eyes from view. Rose could see the outline of each individual rib underneath his thin white shirt. 

When he looked up, his eyes were brown, dull, and devoid of life. 

Rose didn’t know what she was supposed to do. The boy obviously wasn’t an opponent for her. He was a breathing pile of sticks-- to fight him would be an insult to her ability. He couldn’t be any kind of strategist, either. His eyes betrayed a clear lack of intellectual activity. 

She sat down on the bench next to him. 

“What am I supposed to do with you?” she asked. 

The boy blinked slowly. When he spoke, his voice had the raspy tone of disuse. “I think you can figure it out. If you’re as smart as they say you are.”

“Well, I _am_ plenty smart. They wouldn’t need to test that,” Rose said thoughtfully. “And I’m a good fighter, too. What do I need to prove?”

The boy rested his head back on the cold wall. “You need to prove you can do it.”

“Do what?”

He closed his eyes. “What they’ve been training you for your whole life.”

Something deep inside Rose clicked. With a scraping sound, a shelf slid out of the wall next to her. Resting on it was a knife, curved and polished to wicked perfection. 

The boy did not open his eyes. “Do it fast, okay? I just want to get out of this place.”

Rose gently took the knife, holding it up to eye level. The edge looked sharp enough to cut steel. “How long have you been here?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t remember ever _not_ being here. Don’t stall.”

Rose stood up, tightening her grip on the knife’s handle. “So… I just do it, then?”

“Yes.” The boy breathed in deeply. “Do it now.” His head was still laid back. His eyes were still closed. 

Rose held her knife to the boy’s exposed neck. With a quick jerk of her wrist, his throat was sliced open. She withdrew her arm, watching the blood pour from his wound and seep into his clothes. It dripped onto the bench where his body now lay, unmoving. He wouldn’t open his eyes again.

Rose set the knife back on its shelf and left. Her job was done. 

***

Rose didn’t know why she was thinking about that boy again. She had come so far in the years that had passed since his death. It was a waste of her thoughts to dwell on what was done. His only purpose had been to advance her training, and he had fulfilled it. 

She was better now, everyone was. Some were already going on to their own missions. They never told what they had done, or, more accurately, who they had killed, but they always came back with a satisfied gleam in their eye. 

Rose was alone in the barracks. Meenah, Porrim, Roxy, Terezi-- they were all out honing their skills. The boys, she assumed, would be doing the same thing. Vriska…

Vriska was out on a mission. She was the first so far to have received multiple assignments, and before leaving, had made it clear exactly how pleased with herself she was. 

_”I can’t say I’m surprised,”_ her voice echoed in Rose’s mind. _”It’s kind of obvious that I’m one of the more capable people here. This shouldn’t take long, I’ll see you all in a few days.”_

Rose hadn’t had a mission at all. Yet, she reminded herself. She would get one soon. Doc Scratch didn’t usually send out multiple trainees at once, she she’d probably get one as soon as--

The door to the barracks smacked open. All the doors in the facility were automated, but somehow, Vriska always seemed to slam them open and shut. She smirked at Rose from the hall.

“Hey there. I see someone hasn’t found her purpose yet.”

Rose didn’t mind Vriska’s taunts. After all, if she did, there would be something wrong with her upgrade, and she would have it repaired immediately. 

“No, I haven’t received a mission yet. How did yours go?” she said calmly. 

“Perfectly, thank you. It’s such a shame you haven’t experienced it yet. It’s such a high, killing. You feel great after. All satisfied and stuff.” Vriska went over to her pod and cracked the lid open, climbing inside. “I’m beat, though. I don’t think anyone will mind if I take a quick rest, do you?”

Rose shook her head. Vriska nodded decisively, and snapped the cover shut over her head. In a few seconds, it popped open again, and she lifted her head out.

“Don’t feel bad about not getting any assignments. They’ll realize you’re useless and put you out of your misery eventually. I would’ve done it myself a long time ago if I could get permission. A very long time ago.”

She closed the lid again, leaving Rose alone once more with her thoughts.


	2. Loathsome

Doctor Scratch lived in a world of technology. In this world, many people shared many things, like black hair, or brown eyes. There were some things that _everyone_ seemed to share. Visual interfaces, for example.

Doctor Scratch, however, did not possess a visual interface. Not because he did not have the resources to acquire one, no, not at all. The reason was quite the opposite. 

Doc Scratch, as he was called by his associates (you wouldn’t exactly call them “friends”), was clever, and had enough power to put his cleverness to work. He didn’t need a screen in his eyes to get things done. All his hardware was built into the most important processing tool of all-- his brain. It was far more efficient. 

A side effect of this was that he didn’t need to use blink commands to open files. When he received a message, he received it. Its meaning was computed automatically. This could be a tad annoying, because sometimes, the messages he received did not say the things he wanted to hear.

 _”Scratch. You’ve failed to take up any initiative to contact me, despite having read my frequent requests for a status update. Why? You can’t pretend you haven’t read them, I’m quite aware of all your ridiculous upgrades, and I’m still waiting on that six-month report. I’ll be forced to come in for a personal investigation if you drag your feet any longer,”_ read one such message.

If the doctor were not so composed, he would have groaned. He sent a reply as quickly as the thoughts formed.

_That won’t be necessary. The report is nearly finished, I can send it out as per your convenience--_

_You’re out of time for excuses. I’m outside your door._

Scratch sighed, his office door opening as he did so. A woman stepped inside and casually took a seat in the chair across from his desk. She was holding back a smile.

 _Good evening, Doctor Snowman,_ Scratch messaged her.

“Don’t.” She waved a hand. “Just talk out loud.”

“Must you always be so difficult?” Scratch said slowly. Talking wasn’t something he was accustomed to doing. Only two people could make him do it, one of whom due to his position as a higher authority than the doctor, one due to her position as a nuisance. The latter was sitting in front of him. 

“So.” Snowman cleared her throat. “The report you still haven’t sent me was due to contain the subjects’ vitals, upgrade stats, and test scores. Since I’m here, I may as well retrieve the information personally. I haven’t laid eyes on them in over a decade, after all.”

“You’re saying you wish to meet them,” Scratch said. He laced his fingers on the surface of his desk. “And you aren’t playing me for a fool? You aren’t making some kind of elaborate joke?”

Snowman rolled her eyes and stood up. “Of course I’m not. When was the last time they spoke with anyone from the outside world? Clearly longer ago than you’d like to admit. They won’t fool anyone into believing a cover story if they don’t know how to interact.” She turned to the doorway, then stopped. Her next words were so quiet Doc Scratch wondered if she’d intended for them to be heard at all. “You’d do well not to forget whose subjects they really are.”

Scratch wearily followed her lead out the door. “I haven’t forgotten. You prefer walking to transport pads, I assume?”

Snowman blinked, her gaze focused not on the hall passing her by, but on the screen now taking up her vision. Her interface was a sheen of blue over her pale eyes. “Naturally. The last time I was here, I think… Isn’t the male wing closest? With a population of seven?”

“It’s amusing, the way you pretend to know less than you do. You know exactly how many there are. I’d be shocked if you hadn’t committed my last report to memory,” Scratch said. 

“You overestimate the lengths of my knowledge. I’m limited to what you give me, which of course isn’t much.” She sighed wistfully. “What I wouldn’t give for my own facility… You’re the envy of the scientific community.”

“Hardly. People like you view me with contempt at best-- I’d call you the envied one. I have resources, yes. But you have intellectual power. Inventing the entire system of upgrades was no minor feat.”

The female doctor snorted. “Stick to your haughty jargon, Scratch, mockery doesn’t suit you. A scientist usually receives respect for her inventions, yes… with the exception of when the credit is stolen by white-suited military minds. You’ve never once been graced with a yearning for discovery in all your years. As a real scientist, you’d be terrible.”

“There’s that contempt. Perhaps I am less adept than yourself in that particular field, but I won’t claim a lack of creativity. After all, how could I have made all this without it?” Doc Scratch stopped walking. “Here we are.”

He pressed a hand to a small sensor beside the door. It beeped, revealing another. He then tapped a finger to the side of his head, where a small tray popped out. A chip was retrieved, held up to the scanner, and put away, the tray retracting to its former position. Snowman shuddered. 

“You cringe at your own invention,” Scratch said without looking at her. 

“You take advantage of what is handed to you without sparing a thought to the consequences. If I had the power to stop your exorbitant use of such advanced technology, I would do so without hesitation.”

“There is no reason to dwell upon something we both know cannot come to pass,” Scratch replied. The door slid open, revealing a barren room, occupied only by seven pods. 

“They’re asleep?” Snowman whispered. 

“Yes. You can wake them, or we can proceed directly to the database.”

Snowman cautiously approached the nearest pod, tapping on the lid. After a moment, it clicked open, and a boy’s head appeared. 

His eyes narrowed at the sight of Snowman. “Who are you?” he said suspiciously.

She inclined her head. “I’m Doctor Snowman. I’m here to make an inspection. Who are you?”

The boy squinted. “I’m the Doom-born.”

Snowman looked closely at the subject. Those eyes, one crimson, one cobalt… They revealed nothing but hostility and caution. “I mean… What’s your name?”

This remark seemed to perplex him, as he furrowed his brow for a split second before replying. “Uh… I’m Sollux?”

She looked away. Her thoughts had already begun to distract her, as they usually did when she was in the midst of an investigation. “Yes… My apologies, you can sleep now.”

Sollux pulled the lid of his pod down without another word. Snowman turned to Doc Scratch. 

“Why didn’t he give his name?”

Scratch shrugged. “They never use their names around authority. They aren’t trained to.”

Snowman knocked on the next pod over. A boy peered out, wearing a dubious expression akin to Sollux’s. 

“Hello, I’m Doctor Snowman,” she greeted him. “What’s your name?”

He cocked his head. “Time-bo-- wait, my name? It’s, uh, Dave. Why do you ask?” 

“Just... Curiosity. Tell me, Dave, the upgrade you received most recently. Are they functioning adequately? Are they proving to be beneficial to your training at all?” 

Dave nodded. “Yeah. It’s a lot different, but, it’s definitely easier this way.”

Snowman opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, turning over possible inquiries in her mind. Dave shrugged apologetically and closed his pod before she could speak again. 

She crossed the room to open one of the pods on the opposite side. The boy who looked up at her this time has a shock of purple hair slicked back from his forehead. 

“Hello. I’m Doctor Snowman. Who might you be?”

The boy squinted. “Hope-born. What are you doin’ here?” He caught sight of Doc Scratch standing in the doorway, and his posture straightened instantly. “Doctor Scratch, sir.”

Scratch didn’t reply. The boy looked slightly disappointed, and Snowman hesitated before asking her next question. “Do you remember the upgrade you received most recently? It should have been quite a while ago.” She gave him a quick once-over. “Are your abilities working well?”

The boy frowned. “You said most recently, right?”

Snowman nodded. “Yes. The aspect upgrade.”

“Um…” He glanced quickly at Doc Scratch. “Yeah. Everything’s goin’ great.”

“Have your powers continued to develop, or have they stagnated?” she pressed. 

“Stagnated a bit, I’d say.” 

Snowman pursed her lips. “Hmm… Alright. Go back to sleep. You’ve been very helpful, thank you.”

Once the lid to his pod was shut securely, Snowman rolled her eyes at Doc Scratch. “You need to get these kids out more.”

***

“My name? Meenah.”

The girl stared blankly up at a frowning Snowman. The doctor dismissed her, sighing, and she receded silently back into her pod.

“Scratch, these subjects are…” Snowman pursed her lips. “They’re off, somehow. I’ll need to look at the database as soon as possible. But before I get ahead of myself, I need to see the Light-born girl, the second one. Which pod is hers?”

Doc Scratch indicated the pod closest to the door. “Your reason constantly eludes my grasp, no matter how long I toil to understand it. Interacting with each and every subject is no more beneficial to their development than exposing them to each other.”

“Your reason is similarly frustrating. I need to examine her for reference.” Snowman tapped on the pod’s lid. The head of a blonde girl popped out, but, unlike the others Snowman had woken, she didn’t have the look of one who had recently risen from a deep sleep. She was wide awake, and looked up at the scientist with clear eyes.

“Hello. Who are you?” 

“You can call me Doctor Snowman. Who are you?” 

“I’m the Li…” Snowman opened her mouth to correct her own wording and ask the girl’s name, but just then, she stopped. “I mean, I’m Rose.”

Snowman smiled. “Hello, Rose. I have a question for you, about your aspect upgrade.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to answer.”

“How do your abilities compare to those your peers exhibit?” Snowman began. “Are they functioning properly?” Her eyes glinted as new questions formed in her mind and poured from her lips. “Setting aside the difference in aspect, how do the nature of your powers differ? Would you call yourself more powerful than those around you, or less?”

Rose took in each query carefully, taking a long time to form her response. “...In all honesty, I don’t have a definitive idea of their nature. I think my enhancements may lie in just that; enhancement. Heightened aptitude and the like. It’s not as obvious as certain other powers, but I would assume mine are working well, like they always have.”

Snowman nodded gently. “Good. Thank you, Rose. You may rest now.”

Rose gave a nod as she laid back down and pulled the lid closed over her head. Snowman stared after her, not saying anything. 

Doctor Scratch broke the silence. “That girl suffers from either powerful delusion or dangerous stupidity. Her divergence is as plain as day to anyone who is paying a remote amount of attention.”

“I wouldn’t diagnose ignorance,” Snowman said thoughtfully. “It’s quite possible that she may have developed abilities on her own. The placebo effect is a marvelous thing. Perhaps I’ll devise a new experiment… But did you see how attuned she was? The difference between her and the others was remarkable.”

“She’s always been atypical, that one. Not just in the obvious ways. She never reacts to things the way she’s expected to.” Doc Scratch spoke with an aura of disapproval. “I’ll be glad of the day this experiment has run its course.”

“Don’t think you’ll be rid of her so easily. I’d like to keep her on as a subject even after her purpose in this test is fulfilled.” Snowman gave one last look to the pod which contained a now-sleeping Rose. “I’m finished here. To the database?”

***

“One might find irony in your operations,” Snowman raised an eyebrow. “Such a technological zealot, yet one of the last to have a legitimate hard drive core.”

“I follow the innovations of the modern world, but I would not go so far as to follow them past the ends of the earth.” Scratch inserted a second chip into one of the many sensors guarding the door they were about to enter. “It would be unwise to rely on the network to keep track of _all_ my data. Especially data of this sort.”

“Illegal experimentation, you mean?” Snowman watched with amusement. 

“Watch your tone. My activities are perfectly within the law. I _work_ for the law. I simply utilize the parts of it that most give no second thought.” Scratch slid the chips back into his neuroport. 

“And when the government will not supply, you always have the black market wrapped around your finger.” A light above the door flashed red with a loud beep, and it slid open, revealing a room full of processors and blinking lights. Snowman swept into the room, taking it all in.

“I do believe it’s been years since I’ve been inside this place. It hasn’t changed much.” She opened her interface. “Oh… I take that back. The network connection is much better now!”

“Can you carry on with your findings?” Scratch said boredly. “I’d rather not waste too much of my time watching you gush over the last piece of ancient hardware I can bring myself to possess.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I just need to do some checks…” Snowman sat down at a computer station and emptied her neuroport of chips and upgrades, murmuring to herself as she selected the ones she needed. The ones she didn’t, she put back in, the port sliding back into her head and camouflaging with her skin. She stuck two of them into a nearby machine, then pulled out a flash drive, and inserted that as well. 

The screen’s reflection blazed in her eyes as she skimmed over the raw data. “Yes… Yes… They’re all in good shape. Scratch, I wish you would tell me by what precedent you militarized these kids. It would help my research to know what they’re being used for.”

“They aren’t kids, they’re weapons. If I told you their purpose you wouldn’t want to hear it.”

“Too right. It would distract from my other research. It’s a relief I don’t need you to acquire the resources for all my projects, or I’d be a walking ball of culpability.” She paused. “Why do you have so many proxies? All these firewalls… ”

“Our relationship is based on the concept of ‘need-to-know’. Anything you can’t access, you don’t need,” Scratch said. 

“But this is about their electronic components,” she mumbled. “I _do_ need to know this… Hmm. They’ve all got intelligence, reaction, education, and aspect upgrades… And personality control, I assume? That would explain how they… But that’s not listed here? And that wouldn’t…”

Snowman sat hunched over the screen for a minute, concentrating hard. Her lips formed silent words, and she ticked off numbers on her fingers. She sat for a good deal of time simply staring into space, lost in thought.

Then she sat up straight, slamming her hands on the table with a bang. _”Damn it, Scratch!”_

"What is it this time?"

Snowman whipped around to face him. "You gave them emotion upgrades, didn't you? That's why I can't access these files, you don't want me seeing them. That's why all my subjects are like blank slates! How long have you kept this from me?"

Doctor Scratch's face betrayed no guilt. "Roughly two and a half years have elapsed since their emotions were removed."

"Even though I specifically said not to give them any more upgrading!" Snowman said furiously. "Feeling removal is a level four upgrade! I told you not to use any above level three in conjunction with the aspect prototypes. Don't you know not to stick that many plugs in one outlet?"

"It was a necessary addition. No one could kill as precisely as is needed in this world with emotions to cloud their perspective." Doctor Scratch shrugged. "I gave it to them individually, over the course of several months, to see if they could handle it. They all could."

"That's too big a risk to take for your stupid wars," Snowman fumed. "There's a good chance this will ruin my research. You have to take out the upgrades."

I doubt this will have any impact on you. Emotions and astrology should be unrelated."

"You don't know aspects like I do, Scratch! Some deal _specifically_ with emotion. Blood, for example. All those Blood-born out there, with their natural aptitude for relationships. And Mind-- they can just read other people like it’s nothing. Aspects are an uncharted field, all we know is the indication of personality given to us by the solar system. Who can guess why stars make us different? No one! No one has ever even tried. That’s what inspired this experiment _in the first place_.”

“I can’t take out the upgrades.”

“And why is that?” Snowman snapped.

“They’ve all killed at least once already. If I take them out now, the guilt would consume them. They wouldn’t be fit for experiments anymore, much less return to society,” Scratch said indifferently.

“You have to try. This experiment took years to prepare, and I’ll be damned if I let your impetuosity destroy it. This was _not_ a part of our deal.”

“Our _deal_ was that you get to use my facility, in exchange for my military application of your research,” Doc Scratch said coldly. “Nobody would have paid attention to your invention of the upgrade system if it weren’t for me.”

“You said you would keep me informed of the developments that affected my studies,” Snowman fired back. “Take them out. _Now._ ”

“Like I said, they’re all murderers. Only one of them could be…” Scratch stopped. “Only one remains arguably innocent. The second Light-born. During her test, her crime was merciful, not hate-filled. Not even she knows how persistent her good heart is.”

Snowman gave a bitter laugh. “You know it won’t matter with her. Her emotion upgrade isn’t a problem, of course it isn’t. You could keep it in forever and use her for whatever bloodstained missions you like, and I still won’t be able to get any data from her. She’s only useful when compared to those who matter, and they’ve all been polluted. 

“Very well. Remove her upgrade. As a test, to see if she can ‘handle’ it, as you say. We will both observe her progress. If she is mentally unharmed, you remove the upgrades from the other subjects, allowing me to continue my research. If she is not… I begin anew. Without your help. Do we have a deal?”

Doc Scratch inclined his head. “Yes. We have a deal.”


	3. Logical

All eyes snapped to Rose when the telltale _ping_ echoed from her screen.

Rose closed her eyes for a split second. It was both a motion to open the message she had just received, and a gesture of satisfaction. _Finally._ She had been waiting weeks to accept an assignment, weeks after everyone else had already departed on and returned from those they had been given. When her eyes opened, the triumphant words were laid out before them.

_Light-born 02-- enclosed are the necessary files detailing your first mission. You will report to Doctor Scratch’s office to be briefed prior to your departure. Your attendance is expected as soon as possible._

“Well?” Roxy burst out. “What’s the deal? Have you got a mission?”

Rose nodded. Her companions beamed at her. 

“Aw, I knew you’d get it,” Meenah grinned. “Is your attendance ‘expected as soon as possible?’”

Rose nodded. “I trust that means I am being summoned immediately?”

“Yeah. I waited a couple hours and I thought the doc’s attendant was gonna beat my sorry ass then and there.” Meenah patted Rose on the back. “I probably won’t see you again, but I guess there’s a small chance they’ll let you come get your stuff yourself. Either way, good luck!”

The other girls chimed in to give Rose their well wishes, crowding around her as she opened the door to leave their communal room. As she turned to say goodbye, she got one last glimpse of a surly Vriska, sitting in the corner of the room. She had said not a word of congratulation to Rose. She looked up and made eye contact just before the doors clicked shut, and her deep blue eyes seemed to pierce straight through Rose.

There was something in those eyes that chilled her. Something warning. 

The facility was quiet when the door closed and she was left all alone. She stood for a moment, taking in the lack of chatter or presence. The dull sounds of machinery behind the facility’s white walls thrummed in her ears. The last time it had been this quiet, she had been in isolation. Three days she had spent, locked in a tiny room, as preparation for yet another of the scenarios that could potentially arise once she was out of training and thrown into the world of crime. 

Rose shivered. 

A few feet away was a transport pad, large enough for her and the rest of the girls to take at once. The hall ended at the pad’s edge. All the halls she’d ever seen had been designed this way, ending just beyond a pad-- so no one could go anywhere they weren’t supposed to. She stepped onto the flat surface and waved her hand for the control panel.

A translucent screen faded into view at shoulder height. She typed in her destination, Doc Scratch’s office, and hit “enter”. She was transported away in mere moments. 

Rose took a deep breath as she stepped off the pad and faced a new door. It looked the same as any other, but she knew it contained many more safeguards than the door to her own dormitory. She leaned forward to activate the retinal scanner that surely awaited her. 

A small beam of light shot out and swept over her eye. When she blinked, it disappeared. She held out a finger to press against a print scanner, but, to her surprise, the door began to slide open without another check.

Inside, a man awaited her behind a desk. His chair was turned around so she could not see his face. 

Rose lifted her chin and took a seat in the empty chair that was clearly meant for her.

_Have you examined the files of your assignment?_

"No, I came straight here," Rose responded aloud.

_Good. Your obedience is appreciated. I’ll give you a moment to look them over now._

Rose shifted her interface view to zoom in on the attached files that had come with her summons. She blinked once to open them.

The first thing she saw was a picture of a girl. She stood with her head slightly tilted, smiling up at the camera… It was a school photo. She had fair skin and short dark hair teased up into a pair of cowlicks. Rose wasn’t sure if she looked foolish or elegant. 

The photo was labeled with the name “Kanaya Maryam.” 

Rose shifted to the next page. There was another photo; this time, a candid. The girl, Kanaya, was sitting at a desk, in animated conversation with a figure who had been blurred out. Her hands were frozen in the air, a mere snapshot in a series of longer moments making up the scene. Her wide grin was that of a girl without a care; the very picture of innocence. Rose decided to call her elegant. 

The wall of text below the photo described Kanaya’s standing. She was sixteen years old, Rose’s age, enrolled at Skaia Academy. She lived with her mother, a renowned healer and advocate against neurotechnology. _How very ironic,_ Rose thought. 

Perhaps Scratch wanted her killed as a form of punishment to her liberal mother. Rose couldn’t see any other reason a sixteen year old would need disposing of. There were pages more of information that begged to be explored, but she knew the doctor was waiting on her.

“How am I expected to take care of her?” Rose asked, breaking the silence of the office.

 _It would be more prudent to ask how you are_ not.

“So, I am being given full creative control?” Rose considered this. It would give her an excellent opportunity to prove herself.

_Your questions are getting better. Try another._

Rose built an image of Kanaya in her mind. The daughter of a healer. A bright young girl, her brightness only outshone by that of her future. Most likely kind and loved by all...

“People will ask questions if she disappears,” Rose said finally. “They’ll be upset. So I’ll need to frame it as an accident. Is that right?”

_Yes. You will need to conceal your actions. You will be sent to assimilate into her environment, and there you will remain for several months before completing your objective. Once it is complete, you will be returned to the facility. A cover story will be provided for your disappearance. You will under no circumstances allow your true identity to be discovered._

“Will I use a false name?”

_That will not be necessary. According to the law, you do not exist. Creating a false profile with your true name attached will do no damage. What you must avoid is the discovery of your background, of this place._

“I understand.” Rose was already thinking about how she would go about her new life. She could finally put her psychology lessons to use. 

_Do you have no further questions?_

“I don’t.” Rose shifted her weight to stand, but Doc Scratch interrupted her.

 _But you do have a question._ The words rolled across her screen.

_You wish to know why the girl must be taken out._

Rose swallowed. “Yes, the thought did cross my mind.”

_Of course it did. The answer… I trust you will be able to discover on your own._

Rose stood up, dipping her head to the doctor as she did so. “I will. I’ll make sure I complete my mission with the best possible results. Thank you for your time.”

_You will be need to pay a visit to the medical wing for some… necessary alterations to your hardware, before you go. Once your operation is finished your possessions will await you. A transport pad will be programmed to take you to a long-distance station-- the destination you seek is within your files._

Rose nodded again, heading for the door.

_Don’t fail me._

The door closed behind her. Rose’s head might have been clear of feeling, but it lifted none of the weight of the task before her. There was no room for error. 

But then again, there never was.

***

Rose had no memory of her life prior to the facility. She knew she must have been very young when she arrived. She didn’t even know the conditions of her arrival-- had it been kidnap? It seemed possible. Or had her parents agreed to some kind of trade? Did she even have parents, or had an orphanage given her up? None of it mattered to her now. But it was odd to step into the outside world she hadn’t seen since those days of memory lost. Really, the world she had never seen at all.

When she stepped off of the long-distance transport pad, the first thing that struck her was the unfamiliar design of the station. The one she had departed from had been a part of the facility, with the same bland model as everything else there. Here, there were bright colors all around. Messages rolled across wall-length screens, informing travelers of possible destinations and departure times. People zapped into being, then hurried around, collecting decorated luggage and running towards each other.

There was a warning tone, and on the next pad over, a gaggle of children appeared. They laughed together as they raced to the door and out into the world. Rose stared after them. She had never seen anyone with such energy.

She had been standing, motionless, in the same spot for several minutes, and she realized that she should relocate before someone noticed her or the next batch of passengers arrived. The gateway to her future was only twenty feet away.

Rose picked up the lavender bag slouched on the floor beside her. Within it were her weapons, as well as clothes and reading material. Knowing that the protection of a sharp blade was near gave her strength to approach the door and push it wide open.

The fresh air she inhaled was a cool tickle in her nose, the sunlight on her skin, a warm embrace. She had to hold back a gasp. And the street before her…

It was so _big_.

The road lay sprawled out from one end of her vision to the other. Hoverpods whizzed through the air, sending a breeze that blew Rose’s hair into her eyes. She swept it away, taking in the shops and buildings that lined the street. Each seemed to contain a new adventure. She had never been so tempted to stray from the doctor’s orders in her life. She had learned about the world, more than the average girl would, even, and had known what to expect, but learning was nothing compared to experiencing. 

Her temporary goal was to locate a place in which to stay. When she left the facility, she had been pleasantly surprised to find her credit account fully stocked. The doctor or one of his attendants had made sure she would not go unfunded. Now it was up to her to spend the money wisely-- and she knew it would go fast. Rose had to wrench her eyes away from the delectable display in a pastry shop window before finding somewhere to sit and absorb her mission’s fine details.

Skaia Academy was located in the academic district of the town, close to the residential area. Once she looked into the area, it was quite easy to find an apartment nearby that she could rent out. She could take a pad to the Academy every day, and then…

Then, she supposed, she would need to befriend Kanaya. It may not have been the focus of her mission, but Scratch’s remark had piqued her curiosity-- she wanted to find out what it was about Kanaya that made her an enemy. Hopefully she would pick up some useful information, then, once she knew he target well enough, she could formulate a plan for her demise. 

There were a few more photos of Kanaya within the files, as well as her academic and personal records. She was in all advanced classes. Rose would need to fake transcripts of her own to begin schooling, of course, but creating them would be a balance. She mustn’t have _every_ class with Kanaya, and she had to leave room for making other “friends” as well.

From what she had learned of school, it would be an interesting experience. 

By means of the network, she was able to secure a furnished apartment in mere minutes. A few minutes more and a teleportation, and she was standing in the doorway. The interior was quaint, with a bedroom, bathroom, and plenty of space to add her own flair.

Rose set down her bag and sank into the inviting mattress of the bed that sat in her new room. It was shockingly different from the pod she had occupied back in the facility, and admittedly, much more comfortable. She would miss the automated procedure that sent her to sleep within the pod’s hard walls, but these cushions were a nice change. She supposed pods must be too expensive for everyone to own.

Even after unpacking her bag, the room seemed unsuitably empty. Rose’s few outfits took up little space in her dresser, and her books made a small and unimpressive pile atop it. The white walls stared blankly at her. It felt as if something was missing, but Rose didn’t know what. She’d never had the freedom to decorate before. Maybe she would find a suitable method once she had spent more time around people. 

A glance at her screen told Rose it was a Sunday, so classes would begin the next day. She would have to whip up those transcripts as soon as possible. She sighed, her head sinking into the soft pillow. For some reason, the most logical course of action wasn’t appealing to her. She just wanted to run outside and explore, to do something new. It was so tantalizing. When she imagined herself free, it filled her with something she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

But… she supposed there would be plenty of time for that after she had gotten a solid stance in her mission. She rubbed her eyes and pulled up Kanaya’s records for reference.

As she worked, her mind continually wandered. She would type out her false grades for ninth year, then, she would find herself thinking about her target. They would meet tomorrow. 

What would Kanaya be like? Rose imagined her smiling sweetly and taking a seat in the front of the room. She would pull up a screen and finish her work early, then turn to Rose. She would make some kind of conversation… an inquiry as to what school Rose had transferred from, perhaps. Rose would lie and lie some more. They would become friends.

She imagined another scenario. Kanaya was sitting on the bed next to Rose, and they were laughing together. Rose teased her about her unexpected taste for gossip. Kanaya blushed and protested, giving Rose a playful shove. Was she the type for playful shoves? 

Kanaya would ask why Rose lived alone. Rose would lie about her parents living elsewhere. Kanaya would ask why Rose had a knife beneath her mattress. Rose would lie about feeling more secure that way. Kanaya would ask why Rose never told the truth…

Rose wondered if she was supposed to feel sick to her stomach. She knew Vriska never would have. Vriska would run someone through the heart and laugh. _She_ knew if you weren’t up to the task, you were weak and better off dead.

Rose shook herself. She didn’t have to worry about this. Where had the Rose of mere hours ago gone? It was beneath her to be so troubled. She was going to do fine. 

She would make sure everything ran like well-oiled clockwork. She would befriend Kanaya, kill her, and disappear. Nothing could possibly stand in her way. 

Except the feelings, the unacceptable feelings that she could not put a name to, squirming in her gut and beginning to creep into the back of her mind…

It would not do for an efficient killer to have any sort of empathy, even if she were unaware of it. If she did not destroy it at the source, it would seep through her veins and straight into her heart, crippling her more effectively than any poison. Still, Rose wondered what it could be that made her bite her lip as she stared at Kanaya’s picture. She closed the file, staring off into the distance and trying to quell the confusing swirl of sensations.

But they were as insistent as they were confusing. They weighed heavily on her thoughts deep into the night, stopping only to drag her down, down, down into a fitful sleep.


	4. Learning

Rose had decided that sleeping pods were preferable to beds. Beds had a quality of comfort that made them almost impossible to leave, making her first morning in one infinitely more difficult.

She swung her legs over the side and set her feet on the cool floor, ending a long period of indulging past her alarm beneath the covers. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered how anyone could stand waking up like this.

A glance into her kitchen brought back a memory of a study on common foods. She had been given the opportunity to sample many of them a few years in the past, as a break from her usual bland rations, but some tastes were still a mystery, including that of a caffeinated substance called “coffee”. She wondered if her cabinets would contain any. 

She trotted out of her bedroom towards the possibility of a new experience. 

She hadn’t examined the kitchen closely the previous night, so she allowed herself to do so. The clock on the wall told her she had just enough time before school to take inventory. 

The cupboards, upon inspection, were bare. She would have to make a food run as soon as possible. The refrigerator was similarly desolate, making her stomach growl uncomfortably. She hoped there was a cafe close to the pad she would be taking.

Now, where had she left her shoes? Rose glanced to the door. Her standard-issue flats rested on the welcome mat. The sight of their rough gray material reminded her of the bright colors she had witnessed at the station the day before, and she let out a sigh. 

Before she had fallen asleep she had sent off her registration, and she had nothing yet to carry, so she supposed it was time for her to leave. A quick trip back to her bedroom to retrieve her bag, and she was out the door. 

Rose pulled up a map on her interface as she walked to confirm her route. The pad on the corner of Virginia and Archer would take her to Skaia Way, off which the Academy’s vast grounds branched. To her pleasure, there was a coffee shop only a few blocks away. 

On her trip back to the apartment she would have to find a grocery store… Rose’s eyes wandered from her screen and focused on the figure she could see through the translucent map. She blinked, and the map disappeared.

A girl was walking a short distance ahead of her, lugging a crimson rucksack. Her curly black hair spilled over her shoulders, her hands busy trying to tie it up without halting her route. Finally she shook her head and abandoned the attempt. 

Rose turned into the doorway of her convenient cafe and watched as the girl continued down the street. She had to have been an Academy student. Rose wondered if they would have any classes together. 

She was running out of time to follow the girl to school, and she nearly groaned aloud at the sight of the immense menu on display above the register. She bought a vanilla latte at random, then hurried outside again, cradling the warm drink in her hands. The autumn air was beginning to have a bite, and the source of heat was a relief. 

Rose could see the transport pad just ahead, and ran towards it, holding her coffee carefully. It would make a wonderful first impression to show up with a stained front. She slowed down and took a cautious sip. 

She made a face. The vanilla balanced the bitterness nicely, and beneath it Rose could taste a flavor she could grow to enjoy, but for now, it was too much of a shock. She tossed the cup into a nearby receptacle, resenting the waste of credits. 

Then, finally, it was time to step onto the transport pad to be whirled away.

Rose didn’t bother to pause and take in her surroundings before running across the grounds towards the Academy doors. Her time spent luxuriating in those incredible knit blankets had been a curse in disguise. It was a shame, she thought fleetingly as she ran, the gardens and walkways were quite pretty. She would have to explore them in any free time she might be given. 

A few more students were rushing towards the ornate mahogany door, reaching it just before Rose and heaving it open. She caught its edge and slipped inside.

This time, she had to stop and stare. There had been no pictures of the Academy’s interior in her files, but not even pictures could not have prepared her for this.

The ceiling curved upwards in a heavenly arc, composed of stained-glass wonders. The morning sun shone through the illustrated clouds and stars, casting colored light down to where Rose stood in awe. The intricate roof seemed to melt straight into the walls, which were covered in paintings, no two alike, as eclectic yet beautiful as if taken straight from a dream. It was an intensely beautiful sight. 

Rose tore her eyes away from the high ceiling and refocused them somewhere lower. The principal’s office was to her left. There she could receive her schedule, and a pass for whichever class she was about to be tardy for. 

When she entered the office, it was mostly empty. A secretary with a kindly face looked up from her computer to greet Rose.

“Hello. I don’t think I’ve seen you before. How may I help you?”

Showtime. Rose put on her best timid-new-student face. “Um, hi. I’m a transfer student? I think my records were sent yesterday… Sorry for the short notice, but I was wondering if I could pick up my schedule now.”

The woman smiled. “Oh, yes. Rose Lalonde. I’ve got your schedule and student ID right here. You’ve got English first period in room 224. Give me a second, and I can arrange someone to walk you to class…” She tapped a few commands into her computer and Rose heard a girl’s voice.

“Hi, Pam! What’s up?”

“Hi, Jade. We’ve got a new student in, can you do me a favor and come walk her to Ms. Dee’s class with you?”

“Sure thing! I’ll be up in a moment.”

There was a click, and the girl disconnected. 

“That’s my intern,” Pam explained. “Jade. She hangs around the office and helps me out. I’m sure you’ll like her.” She handed Rose a slip of paper and card. “Here’s your schedule and ID. I hope you enjoy the Academy.” There was a loud knock, and she looked up at something behind Rose.

A girl whose face was nearly eclipsed by a giant pair of glasses was peeking through the doorway.

“Hi!” she grinned. “I’m Jade! Pam, don’t forget to write us a pass.”

The secretary waved a hand. “I’ve already sent one to Ms. Dilara. Take your time showing Rose around, give her a good tour.”

Rose gave a small smile and wave by way of introduction. 

Jade beckoned Rose into the hall, and she followed, nodding a goodbye to Pam the secretary. Once the door was shut, Jade gave her another smile.

“So, your name is Rose?” she asked. Rose nodded. “It’s nice to have you here. I assume you aren’t all that eager to go to class. I know I’m not! I fell asleep before I finished my homework,” she giggled. “So I’ll show you around first. Follow me!”

Jade led Rose over to one side of the entrance hall, pointing up at the painted wall. “The stuff up there with all the clouds was done professionally. But all the lower paintings were done by students! Anybody who’s good enough in art gets to, it’s a big honor.” She rested a hand on the wall and traced her fingers along the paint-covered surface as if searching for something. She stopped at the outline of a painted animal. The pale beast resembled a dog, shaded in radiation green. It stared mysteriously into the clouds above. Jade tapped the signature climbing its tail. “I made this one. His name’s Bec.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “That’s quite impressive. I take it you’re fond of art?”

“Yes! It’s one of my favorite subjects.” Jade motioned for Rose to follow her again. “Are you going to be taking it?”

Rose shook her head. “No, my elective is orchestra. What other classes are you in?”

Jade pulled up her schedule and compared it to the slip of paper Rose had been given. She frowned. “Aww, we’ve only got English together! That sucks. And… You’ve got Mr. Enoch for robotics, yuck. He’s creepy.” She took a closer look at Rose’s schedule. “You’ve got Ms. Rosa for sociology, though! She’s great, I’ve always wanted to have her. Oh, wait, let’s stop here.”

Jade stopped short, just in front of a gigantic window. It gave a perfect view of the grounds. “There are a lot of windows like this, but I think this one is the best to look from.”

Rose placed a hand on the glass, marveling at the sculpted hedges and gardens full of flowers she had rushed past upon her arrival. “This school is gorgeous. You must have some pretty generous sponsors.”

“Yeah, the headmistress is super rich. I’m pretty sure she has a government position as well as working here.” Jade stared out the window and into space. “She’s never really around, which is a good thing. She’s one of the only mean staff members.”

Rose made a mental note to find out more about this headmistress. 

Jade turned away from the window and looked to her digital clock. “Jeez! We should get going. I don’t want to be _too_ late.” She grabbed Rose’s hand and pulled her down the hallway.

“That wasn’t much of a tour,” Rose noted. Jade rolled her eyes. 

“Ask questions as we go, then!”

Rose’s first question came when the hall split into a fork. The hall on the left had a yellow plaque laid into the door, the right, a purple one. She turned around to see that the way they had come from was marked by a blue and green plaque. “What are those for?”

“The different divisions!” Jade led Rose down the yellow hall. “You get different teachers and sometimes different classes depending on your division. You have a student ID by now, right?” Rose nodded. “Pull it out.”

Jade took the card bearing Rose’s name, student number, and picture, and flipped it over. On the back was her contact number and a strip of purple lettering. “You’re in Derse!” Jade said. She sounded slightly disappointed. “That’s probably why we don’t have more classes together. I’m in Prospit.”

“Prospit is yellow, then?” Rose peeked in the window of a classroom as they walked down the hall. A teacher was enthusiastically gesturing to a poster of Marie Curie while the students rolled their eyes. 

“Yeah. Oh, here we are!” Jade stopped at a door covered in clippings of inspirational quotes. She saw Rose looking at them and giggled. “Ms. Dilara is something of a romantic.” She swung open the door and took a dramatically large step inside. Rose slipped in after her.

The desks were set in circular groups around the room. Jade was taking her seat in the corner, and Rose looked around for the teacher she had mentioned. 

“Is that a new student I see?” Rose turned to see a young woman seated on the counter next to the door behind her. She smiled. “Hello, Rose. Pam sent me a pass for you and Jade. Most people call me Ms. Dilara, but you can call me Ms. Leijon if you prefer formalities.” She stood and walked to Rose’s side. “Everyone, this is Rose. She’s a new student here and I expect you all will treat her well.”

Rose looked to the students. Jade gave her wink. The others all showed varying degrees of disinterest. Except… 

There she was.

Rose’s heart jolted as she laid eyes on her target for the first time. Kanaya was sitting up straight, resting her elbows on her desk. She looked everything Rose had expected and more; innocent yet elegant, but with an unprecedented glimmer of intelligence behind her eyes. Her eyes were much greener than the photos had depicted. 

“All right, then. Rose, you can take a seat wherever you’d like,” said Ms. Dilara.

Rose looked at Jade, then at Kanaya, weighing her options. Here was an opportunity to bond with Kanaya, but also one to strengthen a budding friendship with Jade, whom she had only one class with.

An extra seat from the back of the room floated over to Rose’s side. She directed it over to Jade, where it fixed in place for her to sit. She tried not to look at Kanaya as she sat down. 

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time for something exciting… Time to read our essays aloud!” Ms. Dilara trilled. 

The class groaned, and their teacher mimicked them. “Bluhh! It’s not that bad, guys. It’s extra credit! Better grades! Parents getting off your backs!” She gave one of the students a pointed look.

One halfhearted hand made its way into the air, and Ms. Dilara pounced. 

“Feferi! Lovely. Come on up.”

The girl stood, grimacing and smoothing her skirt as she stepped to the front of the room. She cleared her throat and flipped her curly hair over her shoulder before taking a sheet of paper from behind her back.

“One central idea of The Great Gatsby is the difference between the old aristocracy and the new millionaires of the 1920’s. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrous mansion, wears a pink suit, and does not pick up on social signals, such as the insincerity of the Sloanes’ invitation to lunch.”

Feferi read off her essay in a monotone voice, Ms. Dilara the only one paying much attention to her. When she was finished, the teacher clapped. 

“Who wants to go next?”

One by one, the students realized their participation was inevitable, and dragged their feet up to the front of the room. Rose listened as attentively as she could, but if she was honest, the forced writings of eleventh years were far from the most interesting thing in the world. 

On her way out the door, Ms. Dilara stopped Rose. “I’m not going to make you write an essay, but you’ll need to do some extra work to catch up to what we’ve been learning. Just to get your grade up, you know?” She gave Rose a pat on the shoulder. “Great. I can’t wait to spend more time in the classroom with you!”

Rose’s next block was orchestra. After much deliberation, she had decided to pick up the violin. Due to her neural enhancements she would be sure to learn quickly, or at least she hoped she would. The teacher, Mr. Damien, was not someone she would like to disappoint. The recollection of meeting the lighthearted man brought a smile to her face.

“Rose, huh?” he jumped back. “I’ll be sure to watch out for your thorns.” His eyes twinkled as he pointed Rose to a seat. “I’ve got a spare violin in the back for you. I’ll have one of the other players teach you in the practice room for a while until you’re ready to join the rest of us.”

Rose’s mentor, a girl named Damara, was extremely sarcastic. She critiqued Rose’s playing with more snark than constructive criticism, but at least it would help her to improve. It looked as if she would be ready to join the orchestra in a few weeks. 

She wished the class could be longer until she remembered her next would be with Kanaya. She found the classroom easily, preparing herself to seek out her target. But this time, she was not the seeker. 

Kanaya stopped her at the door. “Hello,” she said. “You’re Rose, right? We had English together.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Kanaya.”

Rose took her hand and shook it. “I remember seeing you in class. It’s a pleasure to meet you. ”

Kanaya pointed to a seat close by, looking at Rose expectantly. She took it, and Kanaya plopped down beside her, heaving her bag onto the floor. “So, where did you transfer from?” she asked.

Rose shrugged. “I was homeschooled.”

Kanaya leaned in a little closer, seemingly unaware of her movement. “That’s cool! Are you liking it here, then? Even if you’d come from a different school, the Academy would be a big switch, but if this is your first school experience, then…”

“Yes. If what I’ve heard is true, this school is very small in terms of population, but it still seems like an extreme amount of people to me. And the building itself is... “ Rose searched for an adequate description. Kanaya smiled as if she understood the feeling. 

“It sure is something,” she agreed. 

“I can’t imagine having spent years in a place like this. Everything here is beautiful, and all the people are so nice.” For a moment, Rose wondered what it would have been like to grow up attending the Academy, or any normal school for that matter. It was a strange image. No knowledge of how to protect herself? No upgrades to enhance her mind and body? 

But no isolation, no competition, no lack of feeling. No killing. 

Kanaya was looking at her curiously. She seemed to be thinking of what to say, and opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it as if having changed her mind. “Well, I hope it lives up to its first impression,” she said finally. “I’m sorry if I’m being a tad eager.I’m not usually the type to get excited about new students, but... something about you intrigues me. If that’s not a weird thing to say.”

“Not at all. I must say there’s something interesting about you as well.” 

Kanaya looked relieved. “Okay, good. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable after mere moments of conversation. So, anyway… What was being homeschooled like? You may never have seen a school like this, but I’ve never known anything else.”

“I can’t give a good comparison to a normal schooling, but if I had to guess I would say I had more freedom. As long as I finished my work for the day I could do mostly what I wanted.” This was not quite a lie; back in the facility, she had been given time to herself after her daily training. That time was expected to be used on practice, but Kanaya didn’t have to know that. 

“You’re so lucky,” Kanaya said enviously. “My mother is a bit of a stickler for work. More than a bit, actually. She only means the best, she wants me to have a good life, I know. But having more freedom does seem nice.”

“I take it asking her to loosen the reins would be fighting a losing battle?”

“More like one that could never begin. She wouldn’t understand why I would ask now after years of compliance.” Kanaya hesitated. “And, about my mother… This might be a little weird, but, you’re probably going to meet her soon, if you haven’t already. She teaches sociology. Ms. Rosa?”

Rose’s eyes widened. Sociology was her seventh class. She would have it in only two periods. Kanaya was unaware, of course, that meeting her mother was an incredible opportunity for Rose. Doctor Scratch must have known she taught at the Academy when he said Rose would be able to figure out why Kanaya was sentenced to death.

“I have her seventh block... I’ve got to ask, is it weird to have your mother working at your school?” Rose asked, keeping her tone light and curious. 

Kanaya laughed. “I’ve never had her as a teacher. I don’t think it’s allowed. It has made me very close with the staff members, though.”

Rose stowed her bag underneath her desk. “Does that mean you would know what the stigma is around this Mr. Enoch? I’ve received multiple groans when sharing my schedule on his account.”

Kanaya made a face. “He’s just… weird. He has a habit of hovering over your shoulder and watching, it creeps everyone out. Plus he smells bad.”

The trigonometry teacher, Ms. Marian, slapped a hand down on the desk between them. “Cut the chit-chat, ladies!”

Kanay waited until she was gone to whisper, “She’s one of the staff members I’m less acquainted with.”

She and Rose made idle conversation for the rest of the period. They had their next class together as well, and whispered back and forth as Mr. Hugh ranted about the theory of relativity. Rose learned that Kanaya had a fierce “passion for fashion”, and that all of her outfits were self-designed. More importantly, she found out that Rosa Maryam had been a healer for roughly twenty years before she switched jobs to work at the Academy. When she asked what could have prompted such a sudden shift, Kanaya only shrugged. 

“I don’t really know. She never told me. I’d been here for elementary school before she-- oh, damn. There’s the bell. What classes do you have after this?”

Rose consulted her schedule. “Robotics, lunch, sociology, and world history.”

“Who’s your history teacher?”

“Ms. Morgan?”

“Ahh. I’ve got Mr. Duncan.” Kanaya stood up, swinging her bag over her shoulder. “See you tomorrow, then?”

Rose gave her a smile. “See you tomorrow.” Kanaya smiled back before heading out the door.

Rose could barely pay attention in robotics, itching with excitement for her next class. She furrowed her brow. Perhaps excitement wasn’t the right word. It would be strange to encounter someone whom she would soon cause such harm.

When she walked through the door to the sociology room, her eyes were lasers primed on the woman passing out papers. 

She went a tapped the woman on the shoulder. “Are you Ms. Rosa? I’m a new student here, I--”

The teacher interrupted her. “I’m sorry, Ms. Rosa is out today. I’m a substitute. I’ll leave a note for her so she knows to prepare for you tomorrow.”

Rose sighed and found her seat. It would be difficult to wait patiently until tomorrow. Though she had been trying to ignore it, her curiosity was eating away at her. 

Her head was filled with thoughts of Kanaya for the rest of the day. Ideas were blooming in her mind, growing into lengthy schemes of how to ensnare the girl in her trap of friendship. She didn’t think about the killing yet; there was plenty of time for her to ponder the subject later on. The first step was to earn Kanaya’s trust. She could make a lesser goal of picking up information from her mother along the way. 

For now, all there was left to do was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so satisfying seeing the little check marks appear on my list of completed chapters. Probably the only thing more satisfying is reading your comments! They really make my day ;w;


	5. Liar

It was raining steadily, and as Rose held branches out of her way, water dripped down from the leaves and into her eyes. She tried to wipe the moisture away, but her wet hands did no good. She was properly drenched by the time she found what she was looking for. She wished her weather app had been more accurate. 

The previous day, she had taken a wrong turn on her way to history. Her altered route ended up taking her to a window, much like the one Jade had shown her in the morning. It was in a secluded corner of the school, and looked straight out into a tiny patio. Rose had been trying to decide what area of the school to explore first. She thought the hidden clearing would make a nice start.

It had not been easy to find, as it was concealed in a thick grove of trees halfway around the Academy. Rose had contemplated giving up as she searched. It had cost her half an hour of glorious sleep, and her shoes squelched uncomfortably as she walked, but it was with a sense of triumph that she finally laid eyes on the clearing. She would have ten minutes to kill there before school began. 

When she stepped onto the flagstones and hurried across it to the tiny gazebo in the center, the noise of the rain falling around her seemed to hush. It pattered faintly on the roof as Rose sat down in the small structure and pulled out the breakfast she had packed for herself.

She had made a much-necessary food run on her way home from school. There she had bought a wide variety of items, so she could taste something new every day. Today’s breakfast was a flaky french pastry she had picked up from the bakery section. She bit into it without hesitation. 

With the first bite, she realized. Doctor Scratch had committed a terrible crime by forbidding the trainees to taste things like this.

Rose wolfed the rest of the pastry down in less than a minute, brushing her hands together to clean them off. As she looked out from the gazebo, she saw the rain begin to lessen. The droplets grew lethargic, slowing in the air and relaxing their insistent pace to something more casual. The pattering on the roof grew quiet, until it finally ceased. Rose held a hand out, and, feeling only the faintest of sprinkles, stepped into the clearing once more. 

Her clothes were still soaked, and she lamented her lack of a raincoat. However, she did have a thin jacket she had taken from the facility tucked in her bag. She pulled it out and put it on. 

She looked up at the clouds. They were thick and gray, but she could tell that, like the rain, they would soon let up. 

Without the downpour to distract her, she took a better look around her secret garden. Weeds and grasses were growing through the cracks in the patio. Even more overgrown were the plots of flowers adorning the clearing’s edges. They had practically grown into hedges. The gazebo itself was still in good condition, but the white paint had faded so brown spots of wood showed through. The place had clearly been once as beautiful as the Academy’s entrance hall. It was still beautiful, of course, but in a more bittersweet tone. 

She supposed she should go inside, just in case the rain started again. Rose tried her best to avoid the wetter trees, but water cascaded down onto her head despite her efforts. Her jacket was as damp as her shirt had been before she found her way back to the front of the school. 

She ran into Jade going inside. The girl looked at Rose incredulously, guffawing at her soaked clothes. “What on earth happened to you?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “The trees decided I needed a wake-up call.”

“Well, you must be pretty awake now. Do you have anything to change into?”

Rose shook her head. “No. I’ll just have to hope it dries by the end of the day.” She started off towards the english room. Jade kept pace with her, rifling through her backpack.

“Do you have the papers from yesterday?” she asked as she sorted. “I fell asleep halfway through class.”

“You didn’t miss much. You can probably figure out the answers on your own.” Jade looked at Rose with a silent plea, and Rose felt a smile spread across her face. “Yes, I have notes you can borrow.”

Jade pumped a fist. “Yess. Thanks!”

“No problem.” Rose reached into her bag and flipped open her binder, retrieving the papers Jade needed and giving them to her. “When she was talking at the end, she said we’d be starting something new soon. Do you know anything about that? Or were you too busy sleeping?”

“I can’t help it,” Jade grumbled. “I’m narcoleptic. And I actually do know, she’s been reminding us for ages. We’re doing argumentative essays.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “Again? I’ve learned that twice already.”

Jade shrugged. “It’s still pretty much the beginning of the year. Teachers always do review stuff like that. I do hope we move onto something new soon, though.”

She opened the door to Ms. Dilara’s room, letting Rose go inside first. Rose immediately glanced to the desk Kanaya should have filled, but it was empty. She must not have arrived yet.

“Hello, girls.” Ms. Dilara was sitting at her desk. Rose didn’t have a good idea yet of how the teacher normally looked, but she definitely appeared more tired than she had the day before. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her smile seemed more forced. 

Jade seemed to notice it too. “Ms. Dilara, are you okay?”

The woman sighed. “Yes, I’m fine. I just stayed up a little too late.”

“Well…” Jade bit her lip. “I hope you feel better, then.” She and Rose went to their seats. 

“I don’t think she told the truth,” Rose whispered, looking furtively at Ms. Dilara. Jade nodded.

“I guess we don’t have the right to wonder, though. It’s her business.”

The students arrived one by one, until the room was filled. To Rose’s satisfaction, Kanaya greeted her without prompting.

“Hello, Rose. How are you this morning? And...“ Kanaya raised an eyebrow, taking in the state of Rose’s attire. “I assume you don’t have an umbrella?” Rose blushed and shook her head. 

“All right, class.” Ms. Dilara clapped her hands. She stood and took a deep breath. “We’re going to be starting our unit on argumentative essays today, as you all should know. I’m sure you’ve learned this before, but I don’t want to hear any complaining, we’ll only be on this for a week. You’ll be working on a topic that will be assigned to you and your essay is expected to be handed in next Monday. Any questions?”

A boy raised his hand and was called on. “Will our stance on the topic be assigned, too?” he asked, his voice barely audible. 

Ms. Dilara shook her head. “No. I don’t believe in forcing students to argue for something they don’t support.” She picked up a hat from her desk and shook it. Rose could hear paper rustling inside it. “I have a list of topics here. Come on up and draw one!”

Rose stood up cautiously. Kanaya had joined the queue just in front of her, but she stepped aside to let Rose go first. 

Rose reached into the hat and ruffled the pile of papers around, waiting to find one that felt right. Her fingers snagged on a folded slip, and she pulled it out. A sentence was written on it in green ink. She read it aloud.

“Should minors convicted of violent crimes be given the death penalty?”

“Ooh, that’s a good one,” Kanaya said with wide eyes. 

“What would you argue for?” 

Kanaya looked at her as though the answer should be obvious. “Of course they shouldn’t. Everyone has the potential to become a better person.” Rose’s stomach twisted.

Kanaya reached into the hat and pulled out a paper. She grimaced. 

“What is it?” Rosa said curiously.

Kanaya laughed. “Neurotechnology. My mother talks about this so much, I could make an argument against it in my sleep.”

Rose looked away, feeling even worse. She didn’t want to know what Kanaya would say if she knew just how much hardware Rose had packed into her head.

***

“Please do problems one through six in your workbook. That’ll be due Thursday.” Mr. Hugh adjusted his glasses and sat down at his computer.

A boy named Cronus sniggered. “One through thixth,” he whispered. 

“Cronus, that was rude,” Kanaya said sharply. The bell rang shrilly as he rolled his eyes.

Rose was already heading out the door. Her robotics class was a fair distance from the physics room, and she didn’t want to be late. 

“Wait, Rose!”

Rose turned to look at Kanaya. “What is it?”

Kanaya coughed. “It’s nothing, um… I was just wondering… Do you only have one outfit?”

Rose raised an eyebrow in amusement. “No. I have several sets of the same similar clothes. Does that bother you?”

Kana smiled guiltily. “Um… Maybe?” Rose laughed. Kanaya waved her hand. “Hush. Listen, I have an idea. Would you like to go shopping with me later?”

Rose fought not to let her triumph show. Instead, she made herself look pleased and surprised.

“Yes, I’d like that. Would I go home with you?”

Kanaya nodded. “Is there any time you would need to be back to your house by?”

“No. I’m all yours for the night.” Rose glanced up at her clock. “I don’t want to be late for robotics, but you should message me the details.” The two exchanged contact numbers and headed to their separate classes.

Rose looked over her shoulder as she walked away from Kanaya. She was nearly out of sight, weaving in and out of the passers by until she turned a corner and disappeared. Rose refocused on where she was going. When she reached the hall in which her class was, an exclamation drew her attention.

“For flip’s friggin’ sake!” Rose ran up to the door of her class and peeked in. A boy was sitting at a computer, fists tangled in his hair. “Oh, jesus christofer kringlefucker, come _on_!”

Rose cleared her throat. The boy looked up at her and blushed.

“Oh, hello there,” he said awkwardly. “Didn’t mean for you to hear that, I, um,” he fiddled with his collar. “My program’s being quite the fussy little bugger, you see, and I, erm…” He coughed. “Let’s start over. I’m Jake.”

“I saw you yesterday, we’re in the same class. I’m Rose.” Rose looked around the room. “Where’s Mr. Enoch?”

“He went to speak with Ms. Morgan if I remember correctly. He’ll be back soon.” Jake’s attention returned to his computer. “I just need to finish this dadblasted code up before he gets back…” He poked his tongue out in concentration. 

“Are you working on an assignment?” Rose sat down at the computer neighboring Jake’s. Jake shook his head.

“No, actually. It’s a different project. I’m helping my sister make a little something for our cousin’s birthday.”

“Mind if I ask what it is?” Rose looked over his shoulder. Different sections of code were colored in blue and green, filling the entire screen from top to bottom. She had the feeling that if she scrolled, there would be much more.

Just as Jake was about to answer, a harried-looking Mr. Enoch headed into the room.

“What’s the matter with you?” Jake said, surprised. “You seem awfully bothered all of a sudden.”

“If something is the matter, it’s hardly your business,” the teacher muttered. “Where is everyone else?”

“They must not be here yet,” Rose answered.

Mr. Enoch grunted. “Well, at least you’re on time. I haven’t got any use for a new student who only gives me more trouble.” He went and sat down at his desk, staring out the door impatiently. 

The silence between the three of them was uncomfortable, but the man didn’t seem to notice. Jake resumed his coding, glancing every once in a while up at his teacher, but If Mr. Enoch cared that Jake was using class time to work on a personal project, he didn’t show it. He just stared. Rose could see why many thought he was creepy.

The students gradually began to file into the room, each quaking a bit under Mr. Enoch’s glare. 

When everyone was seated at a computer, he stood and glowered at them all from the front of the room. “Now that we’re all here, maybe we can get some work done.”

“We weren’t even late!” a girl protested. Rose recognized her as the one she had followed to school the previous morning. Now that she thought about it, she believed she had seen the girl in her history class as well. What had her name been?

“Yeah, you were the one hanging out in Ms. Minerva’s room,” another girl with red-framed glasses mumbled. 

“Aradia, Latula, don’t get fresh.” the teacher said sternly. Aradia. That was her name. 

“Why do we have to learn any of this?” the girl with glasses moaned. “It’s so boring. We could get all this programmed into our heads if we wanted to!”

“If no one knows how to program, you won’t be able to get anything,” Mr. Enoch pointed out. “No matter how much you bemoan the ‘point’ of my class, Latula, you are not excused from attendance. I’m sure your mother would be interested to hear about how you consider technology to be an art beneath you. Her room isn’t far from here, I could just go down and…” 

“Now, hold on a minute,” Latula said hastily. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

“Good to know.” Mr. Enoch adjusted his glasses and turned to the board. “Now. To get a robot through a maze, what sort of commands would you need to use? Anyone?”

Rose leaned in close to Jake. “Does everybody here have a parent teaching?” she whispered.

Jake shook his head. “Not _everyone._ But it’s rather surprising how common it is. This town is a tad small... The Academy probably pays the handsomest salary for miles.” He winked, but Rose considered what he had said seriously. 

Most students with employed parents. A student whose mother transferred from healing, no doubt an extremely high-paid profession, to teaching. All under a well-connected headmistress. 

Something was going on at Skaia Academy.

***

Rose was standing in the entrance hall. She and Kanaya had arranged to meet by a specific painting, which Rose was admiring as she waited. It showed a frog covered in stars, which was an odd subject matter, but surprisingly pretty to look at. 

Kanaya appeared from the crowd. “Rose! Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to check with my mother to see if it was all right that you come with me.”

“You needn’t have. I met her today and asked her myself,” Rose said, amused.

Kanaya snorted. “I gathered that.” She paused. “She said you could come, and also that she was sorry. Why would she apologize to you?” 

Rose looked away. “Nothing. I just came to class at an inconvenient time.” The memory of their meeting was still fresh in her mind. She had departed from lunch early in the hopes of speaking to Ms. Rosa before sociology began. They ended up having a nice conversation, but not before a shock.

A teacher in tears was not what Rose had expected to see when she arrived. 

“She was a little upset. I’m sorry to have made her embarrassed, I only wanted to arrive before class began. So I could ask about you.”

Kanaya shook her head. “I don’t think she was embarrassed because of you, exactly. More that she let herself behave unprofessionally. Anyway, she’ll be staying after for a while, so shall we go?”

Rose nodded.”Do we have a particular destination?”

Kanaya smiled mischievously. “Yes. Come on!”

Kanaya dragged Rose out the door and towards a transport pad. It was a different one than Rose used in her morning commute, and the street it brought them to was unfamiliar. The shops Kanaya led her past were different, somehow. They looked practically identical to those near her apartment, but there were small details that kept Rose’s eyes fixed on the windows as she passed. Menus displayed on screens instead of boards, plants blooming with flowers Rose had never seen before. 

They stopped at a storefront whose windows were filled with mannequins. Rose eyed them appreciatively, taking in the stylish outfits they wore. A bell jingled as Kanaya opened the door.

“Casey?” she called. “I have a client for you!”

A tiny blonde girl popped out from behind a rack of clothes. “Someone who isn’t you?” she chirped. “How exciting!”

Kanaya stepped aside to reveal her companion. “This is Rose.” Casey immediately ran to her side and began looking her over, speaking quickly as she did so. 

“Oh, no, no! Where on earth do even you get a blank white shirt? White looks nice on you, and I like the skirt, very simple, but it needs a touch of purple. Or orange! Ooh, orange would be lovely, with maybe some yellows and blues, hmm! You know, you’d be a vision in a nice set of robes--”

Kanaya interjected. “Casey, no.”

The girl pouted. “All I want to do is make some nice robes Kanaya! You never let me have any fun.” She took hold of Rose’s hand. “Okay! I have just the thing for you.”

Casey led Rose over to a set of dresses hung neatly from a rack, pulling them each off and laying them over her arm. “Yes! This and this, and this, and…” Rose raised her eyebrows at the quickly-growing pile of clothes Casey was carrying.

Casey led Rose to the dressing room and shoved the pile into her arms. “Try these on!”

Rose looked at Kanaya uncertainly. Kanaya just laughed.

***

An hour later, and Rose was left with a pile of new outfits. Her personal favorite was a black dress with a pink sash around the waist, but she thought she would make a habit of wearing the plainer t-shirt and skirt as well. 

“Kanaya, this is amazing.” Rose failed to resist the urge to stroke the purple velvet dress yet again. “How can I ever thank you?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Kanaya sat down on the dressing room bench. “We can go to my house after this. Would you help me with my trig work? I need to study for the test.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “What is it you need help with? You seem quite capable in class.”

Kanaya shrugged. She patted the empty space on the bench next to her, and Rose sat down. “Well… You have an education upgrade, don’t you? You’re bound to know things I don’t.”

Rose recalled Kanaya’s argumentative essay topic. “Didn’t you say earlier that you don’t like upgrades?” she said tentatively. 

Kanaya shook her head. “Just that I can write my essay easily. I don’t know where I stand on the issue yet, and I’m not going to condemn you for having one. My mother might, but at least she has her reasons.” Rose must have looked upset, because Kanaya rushed to correct her mistake. “No, I’m sorry. She wouldn’t. She just doesn’t like the brain being treated so lightly.” She frowned. “If she would tell me why, maybe she could get me to agree with her.”

“Why won’t she tell you?”

Kanaya grimaced. “She just...” She opened her mouth to say something more, then stopped and looked away. “It’s a long story,” she muttered. “She wouldn’t want me to tell you.”

“That’s all right,” Rose said gently. “I can tell it’s a big deal for your family. You don’t need to tell me.” Really, she was burning with curiosity, but she knew it would do no good to pry.

Kanaya sighed and laid her hand on Rose’s. Rose felt her heart beat faster, but she didn’t know why. “Thank you. Maybe I’ll tell you some day, but… Not now.”

Rose could wait. For now, she was satisfied to know Kanaya might tell her eventually. She could trick it out of her as soon as they were close enough. She squeezed Kanaya’s hand. 

“It’s all right. Would you like to go and study now?”

”Yes.” Kanaya gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you for understanding.”

Rose smiled back. “That’s what friends are for, right?” 

Kanaya nodded, her cheeks turning a faint pink. “That’s what friends are for.”

If only Kanaya knew.


	6. Loss

The life of a teacher was one riddled with annoyances. 

There would always be students without homework, piles of papers to grade, and bugs in the network. Skaia Academy was supposed to have a higher quality network system than other schools, but Rosa Maryam had realized long ago that some things must be universally constant.

The added stress of teaching became an unpleasant ordeal when combined with that of the past week. Rosa’s life was never easy around this time of year, but it was affecting her more than she liked. Two days ago she had allowed herself to take the day off work, but the next she had allowed a student to see her upset. A _new_ student. Where had her professional manner gone?

Rosa sighed. Time for her to check the network, yet again, and see if any repairs had been attempted. To her surprise, the school’s web page opened with no trouble. She relaxed a tiny bit. At least now she could submit grades and not worry about her work piling up.

She scrolled down through her list of students, searching for a name. That new girl, Rose, would have to be given some catch-up work. She found the name. Rose… 

Rose _Lalonde._

In an instant, Rosa’s blood seemed to freeze in her veins, slowing all thought and chilling her from head to toe. It wasn’t possible.

She _couldn’t_ be a Lalonde. The only person Rosa had ever known with that name… She had been killed. 

And then, both her children had been spirited away, never to be seen again. Could it be that a spirit of the same sort had brought one girl back to her home?

Rosa had always wondered what had happened to the Lalonde girls, along with the rest of the children who had disappeared on that fateful day. It seemed obvious what they would be used for, but whether they would be safe was a murkier subject. There were so many questions to ask. Had Rose been used for everything the doctor had promised? Why was she in this place, now of all times? 

Was she alone?

Rosa reached out for the photograph she kept in the corner of her desk. She recognized herself, a younger and more lighthearted woman. There was Kanaya, by her side. And there was Porrim. 

Two days ago had been the day that marked ten years. A decade since she had seen her daughter’s smile. Every second she spent staring at the image seemed to stab at wounds she had fought desperately to close. 

But the question could not be ignored. If Rose Lalonde was alive and well, if she was here, where was Porrim? Was she safe?

It was a question Rosa had been endlessly turning over in her mind ever since that hateful man had appeared on her doorstep. She didn’t want to remember...

But her mind was not merciful, and would not relent with the memories of the past.

_A soft knock sounded from the door. It was a knock loud enough to be heard, but no more so than necessary. Rosa hurried to answer its call, gently setting her daughter down as she did so._

_The girl pouted. “Mommy! We aren’t done with this game yet.”_

_Rosa smiled. “I know, my love. We can finish in just a moment. Let mommy answer the door, all right?” She reached for the doorknob._

_When she turned it and opened the door, a man in a white suit stood before her. He smiled at her. The smile did not reach his eyes. “Hello. You are Ms. Rosa Maryam, are you not?” Rose nodded. “My name is Doctor Scratch. I work for President English.”_

_Rosa opened the door wider.“Oh, yes! Would you like to come in?” The doctor nodded, seeming to approve of Rosa’s request. He swept inside, locating the living room and taking as seat as easily as if the house were his own. Rosa might have objected to such confidence if the man were not such an authority. It would be the mark of a rude hostess to rebuke someone of such caliber._

_“You must be wondering why I’m here.” Scratch laced his fingers on the top of the coffee table. “I have a proposition for you.”_

_Rosa pulled up a chair across from him. “Tell me more” The very premise of an offer was intimidating, yet intriguing. What could an underling of President English himself want with her?_

_“Let me tell you more about myself. I am the manager of English Enterprises-- you must have heard of it.”_

_“Yes, I’ve heard of your company. You are the world leaders in experimental neurotechnology, if I am correct.” Since the day the concept had been introduced to her, she had wished nothing more than for the invention to fail to attract attention. The brain was the most important part of a person. It housed their thoughts, ambitions, dreams, and hopes. In a more drastic sense, it housed all that which kept a person alive. Tampering with it was a dangerous practice._

_“They were an innovation of my company. We’re beginning to develop new types; our next has to do with aspects. And it just so happens that your daughter, Porrim, was born at the exact moment of Earth’s alignment with the Space constellation.”_

_Rosa’s heart beat faster. “What is it that you ask of me?” she said, an edge of suspicion in her voice._

_“We would like to use Porrim as a sort of a beta tester. In return, we can give you virtually anything you desire.” Scratch’s tone was pleasant, but it did not distract Rosa from the meaning of his statement._

_“You want to put these things in her brain? I…” She shook her head. “I’m very sorry. But I’m afraid I won’t condone the use of my child as a test subject.”_

_The doctor smiled again, a deeply unsettling smile with no mirth behind it. “It is not wise to go against the wishes of the President, Ms. Maryam."_

_Rosa didn’t move. Fear was flooding through her body, numbing all her senses. “I offer my humblest of apologies... I have never and will never support your technology. Especially not when being considered in my daughter.”_

_The doctor stood. “I see. It is clear to see that there is no persuading you, then.” He was at the door as quickly as he had appeared there. He laid a hand on the doorframe. “I regret your decision,” he said in a flat tone. “I’m sure you will come to agree with me.” Then, he was gone._

_The only lasting trace of his presence was the fear stabbing through Rosa’s heart._

_“Porrim?” she called. Her daughter ran out from the kitchen and to her mother’s side._

_“Who was that, mommy?”_

_Rosa closed her eyes. “No one, my love. It was no one.” She would never let Porrim fall into their hands. She was something that Rosa would never allow them to have._

In the years following, the strange encounter was Rosa’s darkest secret. From place to place, employer to employer, she hid her past. Not until Kanaya was born would she recount it. Not until a headmistress, a fellow mother, would share the story of her child, stolen away by a man in a white suit. Not until she met Candace. 

_”That awful doctor,” Candace shuddered. “You must be so afraid.”_

_Rosa bit her lip. “Yes, I must say I am. We’ve moved away from that house since then, but I doubt it would make any difference to someone working for English.”_

_To Rosa’s surprise, Candace smiled. “I think I might be able to help you.”_

_“How?” Rosa leaned forward suddenly. “Is there a way to stop him?”_

_Candace settled herself into the couch. “There could be. You see, I have security cameras in my house. Everything Scratch said is on tape.”_

_“Why don’t you take it to the pol--”_

_“Just a moment, Rosa, if you will. They wouldn’t listen to me. A lone woman against the government commanded by President English?” She laughed derisively. “But... I think he may have approached others with a similar offer. What was your Porrim’s sign?”_

_“It was Space.”_

_“Meenah’s was Life.” Candace frowned. “But that’s only two.”_

_“You don’t mean to say... he wants to test every aspect?” Rosa’s face was filled with horror. “That’s twelve children. He couldn’t!”_

_“If he took one, he’ll take more. But… that’s twelve people who might think to get proof.” Candace squeezed Rosa’s shoulder. “Come work with me at the Academy, you’ll be safe there. We can try to find those poor people who’ve had their lives ruined.”_

_Rosa hesitated. “I don’t know… I’ve devoted my life to healing. Casting it aside would not be so simple.”_

_“I’ve always put my kids above anything else in the world. My work is important, but my children are my everything.” Candace said quietly._

She was right, of course. Rosa couldn’t allow herself to put Kanaya in any more danger.

They had found their peers together, Candace and Rosa. First there was Sebastian, who had been threatened multiple times. Duncan, whose little boy had been taken from his crib. Rosa began to believe that there was safety in numbers. With every new person she bonded with, with every new friend she made, she became more confident that Scratch wouldn’t dare touch them.

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

_Morgan was in tears of fury when she called. “They took her! They fucking took Vriska! She never made it home! They must have taken her!”_

_When they gathered together, there was chaos._

_Dilara’s hysterical shrieks echoed down the empty hall. It was the dead of night, and the school was closed, but the noise made Rosa nervous._

_“Please, Dilara. I share your distress, but we need to think.” It was a shock that she was able to get the words out. Only her fierce willpower kept her from breaking down. “We can get them back. There must be a way to rescue them.”_

_Dilara’s sobs faded into silent streams of tears, but she still refused to speak a word. The others followed suit, Ruby reaching beneath her red-tinted glasses to wipe her eyes, and Marian’s breathing coming more easily. Rosa wrapped her arms around her friend, and there they remained, for what seemed like a small eternity. There was time to grieve. But there was only so much longer that action could be taken._

_“He’s gone.” Dilara’s voice was muffled when she spoke at last._

_For a moment, Rosa felt a tiny stir of jealousy. Dilara wouldn’t face the pain of losing a child she had birthed-- neither of her daughters had been born with the stars’ alignment. Instead, her lover’s child had been taken from her. It was undoubtedly horrible. Karkat had been like her son. But it couldn’t have compared to the agony Rosa was pushing down..._

_“We’ll get him back,” Rosa said comfortingly. Then she raised her head. “But… Where’s Sebastian?”_

_Dilara broke out into fresh sobs, shaking even harder. “He’s_ gone. _”_

_Rosa grabbed Dilara by the shoulders. Something was beginning to dawn on her. If not Nepeta or Meulin, then… “What do you mean, Sebastian’s gone?”_

_Dilara’s mouth formed silent words as tears flooded her cheeks._

_“Dead.”_

_The entire room went silent. Damien was the first to speak. His face was white as a sheet._

_“Where are David and Jace?”_

_Marian looked around. “Strider and Lalonde aren’t here either…”_

_Morgan tore out of the room. “They’d better get their asses in here before I kick them into next year!” Rosa listened as her heavy footsteps receded down the hall, faltered, and ended in a thump._

_“What the hell is going on?” Hugh said faintly. “Is anyone else still convinced this is a nightmare?” His voice shook, the lisp more prominent than ever._

_“Of course this is a nightmare.” Morgan appeared in the doorway. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were wet, but she made no attempt to dry them. Her expression was of loss and rage combined into a world of hurt. “It just also happens to be real life.”_

But even as they searched, no evidence had been found. The doctor covered his tracks very carefully. It seemed impossible to find those who had been lost. Vriska, Porrim, Roxy, Rose, Meenah, Terezi, Dirk, Rufioh, Eridan, Dave, Sollux, Gamzee. All gone in an instant. Were they being experimented on? Were they in pain? Were they even alive? 

There were no answers.

The Union, as they had called themselves, disbanded quickly. They continued to individually speak out against neurotechnology, but, in the words of Dilara, they “couldn’t afford to lose anything more.” They gave up. 

All except Rosa. She was going to find her daughter if it was the last thing she ever did.

She searched through the deepest pockets of the network, combing through each and every corner for any mention of Scratch’s crimes. There was nothing. The only articles he was mentioned in praised his scientific achievement and called him a genius. Rosa gritted her teeth with every word she read. How could anyone believe that man a genius? 

She tried to teach those around her that upgrades were dangerous, and that the people behind them were even more so. But as she could never tell them specifics, they just laughed, telling her to “advance with the modern age.” It seemed all she could hear was, “You worry too much. This technology is amazing, and it improves everyone’s lives.” Each time she was forced to listen to such drivel, her frustration nearly drove her to tears.

As the years went by, Rosa began to put her efforts into protecting Kanaya instead of her fruitless search. It was clear that Scratch would be found only when he wanted to be. 

It seemed that he finally wanted to be found. 

Rosa picked up her cell phone. Outdated though it was, it was infinitely better than the message system that was now favored. 

“Dilara?”

“Yes?” 

“I think we have a lead.”

The other woman did not ask what she meant. There was a long silence.

“I’ll get the others.”

Rosa smiled grimly. The past ten years of her time would not be put to waste. At last, progress was being made. She made a silent vow to herself: if she was ever face to face with Doctor Scratch again, he wouldn’t make it away from her unscathed. 

In the meantime, she had a few questions for the enigmatic Rose Lalonde. 

***

“Rose? Could I have you stay after class a moment, please?” 

Rose looked up. Her face was unreadable. “Yes, of course. What for?”

Ms. Rosa took a quick look around the room. It was close to empty, with only a few students left packing up their things. She lowered her voice. “Wait until we are alone.”

Rose looked idly curious, but Ms. Rosa saw her tighten her grip on the book she was holding. The last few students passed her by, and the teacher closed the door behind them. It settled into place with an ominous ‘click.’

“Sit with me, please.” Ms. Rosa pulled two chairs to the front of the room. Rose set her things on a desk and took one of them. 

Rosa breathed deeply. There were so many questions to ask, but now that the time had come, she found herself at a loss for words. She decided not to talk around it.

“Rose, have you ever met a man named Doctor Scratch?”

Whatever Rose had been expecting, it certainly hadn’t been that. In an instant, the look in her eyes flickered from shock to confusion to fear, then returned to their usual guarded state. “How do you know that name?”

Ms. Rosa smiled sadly. “I’m sure you met a girl named Porrim. You may not have known, however, that her surname was Maryam.”

Rose shifted in her chair. “I… yes. But how do you know Scratch? How did you recognize me?”

There were questions Rosa dreaded to ask, and ones she dreaded to answer. Rose’s last inquiry fell into the latter category. “I don’t know how to tell you this… Your mother was a very dear friend of mine.”

“You’re using the past tense.” Rose’s eyes narrowed by a fraction. “So, Scratch killed her, did he?”

Rosa blinked. She hadn’t thought the girl would take the news so lightly. She didn’t quite know how to react, so she responded simply with a “yes.”

“I have no memory of anyone or anything preceding my time in Scratch’s custody. Forgive me for my bluntness, but it seemed clear what had happened.” 

Rosa pressed on. “What did they do to you all in that place? If you have seen Porrim, is she safe?” Her heartbeat accelerated as she waited for a reply. 

“We were… tested. We had new types of upgrades planted in our heads, but no real harm was done.” Rose shrugged. “As for Porrim, I’m quite sure she remains there safely.”

The sigh Rosa let out was one of ten years’ pent-up worries being released. For a moment, her mind was consumed by the single emotion of gratitude. “Thank God. That’s very good to know. But… That leads me to my next question. How did you get here?”

The answer was simple enough. “I escaped,” Rose said with the smallest hint of a smile. 

_Couldn’t you have brought Porrim with you?_

Rosa stamped out the thought the second it occurred to her. If Porrim was to be rescued, she wanted to do it herself, so she could make Scratch pay. “Where did you escape from? Could you lead me there?”

“Of course.” Rose opened her interface, and Rosa could see the tiny outline of a map before the girl’s eyes. “I’d be happy to give you directions. I’ve wanted nothing more than to destroy that man’s work for many years.”

Rosa retrieved a pen and listened attentively, scribbling down the instructions Rose relayed to her. She brought her mind back to the task at hand when it was complete; she had jumped ahead to thoughts of what would happen when she reunited with her daughter. She laid a hand on Rose’s shoulder.

“I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve gone through. But just now, you’ve been such a great help to me. How can I ever thank you?”

Something flashed behind those violet eyes, but Rosa could not tell what it was. Perhaps the girl was overwhelmed? She had asked many questions in a short period of time...

“No thanks are necessary. I’m glad to help.” 

Rosa smiled. Rose seemed to be all right, a feat Rosa herself couldn’t quite manage. She was still reeling from the knowledge that Porrim was safe after all those years of separation. All she wanted to do was pack up and bring her back home where she belonged. Later that evening, she would stop at home to inform Kanaya of an impromptu trip. She would be gone for quite a while. When she returned…

There would be a wonderful surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep commenting guys, ~~it's my only motivation~~ I love hearing feedback!


	7. Lavender

“When do you think my mother is going to be back?” Kanaya stared at the ceiling, her hands crossed into a pillow beneath her head. “She left awfully suddenly.”

“I’m not quite certain. She asked if I could stay with you while she was away, then left.” Rose was sitting on a spare pillow, looking up from the floor to where Kanaya lay on the bed. 

“But that was days ago. Would she have not warned you if it would be this long?” Kanaya rolled over to face Rose. “...Wouldn’t she have warned me?”

Rose shrugged. “She did say she would be gone a long time. I’m perfectly prepared to let you stay as long as you need.”

“Hm.” Kanaya was silent. “Well, I’m sure it won’t be much longer. And until then, we can do whatever we’d like!” Kanaya had been a bit awed when Rose had told her they would have the house to themselves for the most part. “It’s only six, and we won’t have to go to bed until, what, eleven? What would you like to do now?” She sat up. “Would you like to watch the Complacency of the Learned movie? I’m still surprised you haven’t seen it, considering you’ve read the books.“

“Sure. There isn’t much to do in my house, I must admit, but I’m happy to go along with anything you suggest.” Rose clambered onto the bed beside Kanaya. 

Kanaya reached for the disc she had brought in her bag, then stopped. “Wait!” She snapped her fingers excitedly. “I have a bunch of games at my house. Would you like to go and get them? We can watch the movie later.”

“Do you think your mother would want us at your house alone?” Rose said, surprised.

“I don’t think she would mind. We’d only be there for a short time. But some of the games require more than two players…” Kanaya stopped to consider this. “We could invite Jade over?”

“That sounds lovely. I’ll contact her once we have everything.” Rose stood and waited for Kanaya to take the lead so she could give directions. 

“Do you think we should invite anyone besides Jade?” Kanaya opened the door and crossed through the apartment, Rose at her side. They stepped out and Rose locked the front door behind them. Kanaya turned down the street in the opposite direction that Rose took to get to school.

“Well, I don’t really know anyone else. I’ve only hung out with Jade a couple of times, and she’s my closest friend here, excepting you.” Rose wasn’t sure how she felt about a large group congregating in her apartment. She would prefer a smaller group, six at the very most, so she could have plenty of time bonding with Kanaya. They had spent a great deal of their time together recently, and in the back of Rose’s mind, she knew that Rosa’s absence was the perfect time to initiate an assassination. That was why she had led the woman astray, after all. But the larger part of her insisted she wait. She just wasn’t ready.

It wasn’t logical, but it was a very persuasive force. 

“Aradia is nice, when she isn’t apathetic,” Kanaya suggested. “Or Nepeta, she’s always fun to be around.”

“Why not both?” Five was a fine number, as long as it didn’t grow any larger. “We’ll have ourselves a little party.”

“We can grab some popcorn from my house, as well.” Kanaya pointed to a transport pad just ahead. “We can use this one to get there.”

Rose eyed the flat surface. It was smaller than any pad she had ever seen, looking as though it had been built to service four at most. She waited for Kanaya to step on, then joined her. She blinked, and suddenly, the scene around her was different. To her great surprise, it wasn’t another street. It was a house.

Rose’s mouth fell open. 

The Academy, she knew, was a school of rare size and beauty. It could only have been the way it was through sponsorships or government funding. But a house like this, and a private transport pad?

As she took in the sight, she could see that the house was not nearly as large as the Academy, nor as beautiful, but it was definitely more so than could be considered normal. The building was plain white, consisting of two towers and a connecting section. Brightly colored banners hung down from the ball-shaped peaks. Rose looked at Kanaya. Kanaya looked back, blushing.

“Okay, I probably should have warned you. It’s a little lavish, but we can just ignore that, right?”

“Why would I want to ignore it? This is amazing.” Rose wandered towards the base of the larger tower. “How do we get up?”

Kanaya directed her to the left, where an opening in the tower awaited them. Inside it was a flight of stairs. 

“I should have expected a house like this, with your flair for design and all,” Rose teased. Kanaya rolled her eyes.

“Yes… I designed it.”

Rose gaped. “What! You’re kidding.” Kanaya blushed again, running up the stairs and past Rose.

“My mother let me make the blueprints when we moved!” she called down. “When I heard we didn’t have a house in mind to move into, I started hinting at how much I’d love to design one. She gave in eventually.”

They reached the top of the stairs and stopped at a landing. There was a door to the right with “Kanaya” written on it in green script, and a door to the left, which had a blank spot, as if something there had been painted over. Rose eyed it as Kanaya opened the door to her room. The house must have been built before Scratch had come into play… If she looked very closely, past the overlaying paint, she could see “Porrim” written in that same green script. 

She wondered what it was like behind the abandoned door. 

Kanaya let Rose in first. “Sorry for the mess,” she apologized. Her room was indeed a mess, but Rose appreciated it. It was the sign of an active mind. Swatches of fabric littered the floor, the piles of cloth growing larger as they grew nearer to a complicated sewing machine. There was a large wardrobe in one corner, along with a vanity, a table covered in plots of purple flowers, a bed, and, for some reason, a chainsaw. Rose stared at it, recalling a hobby Kanaya had once mentioned. “Hedge sculpting?”

“Yes. Give me a moment…” Kanaya approached the closet in the corner of the room, opening it up. “What’s your favorite game?”

Rose shrugged, then remembered that Kanaya’s back was turned and spoke aloud. “I don’t have a favorite. You can choose.”

“Well, I know Jade likes Pictionary and Jenga. And memory games. She likes a lot of things. I’m not so sure about Aradia or Nepeta.” Kanaya backed out of the closet, a stack of board games in her arms. “Will this be enough.”

“Certainly. Would you like help carrying all those?” Kanaya nodded, and Rose lifted half the stack. She carried it under one arm as she opened the door. “Where do you keep the snacks?”

Kanaya ducked ahead of her, starting down the stairs. “The kitchen is down here.”

Rose stepped lightly down the stairs, keeping close to her guide. It was a short but pleasant walk, the sound of her footsteps echoing through the stairwell. When they stopped, she was directed towards a short hallway that ended in an open kitchen. There was a door in the very back of the room. Rose pointed at it, an unspoken question written on her face.

“This is the connection between the towers,” Kanaya explained. “We started in mine. There’s the hall, then the kitchen is here, and through that door is the living room. Then it opens into the second tower.” She set down the board games she was holding and began rifling through the cupboards. 

“Let’s see, we have popcorn, crackers, candy… If Aradia wants licorice, she’ll have to bring her own, I can’t stand having that disgusting flavor in my pantry...”

Rose’s curiosity got the best of her. “I’ve never actually tasted licorice. Is it that bad?”

Kanaya popped her head out of the cabinet. “You’re lucky you haven’t. It’s awful, I can’t understand how she likes it. Say, which of these do you think we should take?” She held up several brightly-colored packs. Rose shrugged helplessly. She had never tried any of them, and had no opinion to contribute. 

Kanaya looked incredulous. “Wait, have you not tasted _any_ of these?” Rose nodded sheepishly. “Well, this changes everything! I have to bring more now. This will be the most incredible tasting session ever seen.”

“As long as we can carry it all.” Rose took the packages Kanaya handed to her and piled them on top of her board game stack. “Is this everything?”

Kanaya picked up her share of the load. “Yes. If we brought any more we would have to invite them to spend the night, and I don’t know if that’s all right with your parents. Or parent.”

Rose had prepared herself for inquiries as to the location of her parents, and had a cover story at the ready. “We probably shouldn’t. My father gets home after I’m normally asleep, and he’ll ask questions if I’m awake and have friends over.” 

The two slowly made their way out of Kanaya’s house, taking care not to drop anything. “So, your dad has been home these past few nights, I just haven’t seen him?” Kanaya said curiously.

“Yes, he works in another city. It’s a long commute there and back, so I don’t see much of him,” Rose replied. “You probably won’t end up meeting him, but he told me you were welcome in our house.” She set her luggage on the transport pad and waited for it to disappear before stepping on herself. Once she was back on her street, she waited for Kanaya before continuing back to her apartment. 

Kanaya pulled out a cell phone. “All right, I’ll contact Aradia and Nepeta. You can do the same for Jade.”

Rose nodded and opened both her apartment door and her interface. Excepting the facility members and Kanaya, Jade was the lone number entered into her contacts. She hit “call” and waited for Jade to pick up. After a few rings, the girl’s spectacled face filled Rose’s screen.

“Hey, Rose! How’s it going?”

“Well, thank you. I was just wondering if you would care to watch a movie with me and Kanaya? Aradia and Nepeta will most likely be joining us as well.”

Jade beamed. “That sounds great! Are we going to the cineplex?”

“No, we’ll be at my apartment. I live on Virginia. Number 56, the one with the purple door, you can’t miss it.”

“Cool! I’ll see you soon.” Jade waved, and with a click, she disconnected. 

Rose looked to Kanaya and received a thumbs-up. “I messaged Aradia and Nepeta. They will both be arriving shortly.”

Rose looked up to Kanaya. She was still tapping out a message on her phone’s tiny buttons. After a minute, she looked up, seemingly satisfied. “Aradia is en route. Nepeta will be coming over after she finishes feeding her cat.”

“Let’s tidy this up a bit before they arrive.” The jumble of board games and snacks was sitting on the table in Rose’s central room. She shifted the food to one side so it was separate from the games. Just as she was taking a closer look at the bags of candy, there was a burst of knocking at the door.

Kanaya reached it first, opening it wide for Jade to come in. The girl bounced inside with her usual cheer, tugging off her sneakers and looking around. 

“Wow. Rose, I’ve never been to your house before, this is great!”

“It isn’t much, but I’ll agree that it’s enough to have a good time with.” Rose tossed the bag she was holding to Jade, who fumbled and caught it. 

“Oh, sweet, gummy worms are one of my favorites!” She joined Rose at the table and began searching through their night’s entertainment. “You guys have great taste in candy,” she noted.

“The credit belongs to Kanaya. She’s the connoisseur between the two of us,” said Rose, waving a hand.

“You’ll be a connoisseur too, by the end of the night.” Kanaya smiled from her watchful position at the door. “Jade, can you believe Rose hasn’t ever had gummy worms?”

Jade’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “What! That’s crazy!” She tossed the bag back to Rose. “Eat one, now.”

Rose rolled her eyes and tore open the bag, popping one of the squishy candies into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully, Jade waiting with bated breath.

“Well? How is it?”

“It’s certainly different,” Rose said truthfully. The texture was unfamiliar, as well as the taste, but not in a bad way. It was actually rather pleasant. Rose swallowed and reached for another candy bag.

There came another knock, and Kanaya opened the door for Aradia. The girl smiled faintly and kicked off her shoes, waving to Rose and Jade. “Hello. Am I late?”

“Of course not. This party’s just getting started,” Jade assured her. She looked around. “Are we just waiting on Nepeta now?”

No sooner than Jade had spoken, there was another knock. Nepeta peeked in playfully from the open door. “Hi guys!” 

Jade swung her arm around and held a peace sign to her face, grinning widely. “‘Sup!” Nepeta scampered inside to greet her friends and was immediately chastised by Kanaya. 

“Shoes, Nepeta!”

Nepeta grimaced. “Whoops. Sorry.” She hurried back to the door and slipped out of her shoes, leaving them on the welcome mat. She shut the door behind her to keep out the chill, and focused back on the snack-laden table.

“Is that candy I see?”

“Yeah. Come take a look,” Jade encouraged her. Nepeta ran over without hesitation.

“Kit kats! Heck yes!”

“It appears your idea was a success,” Rose whispered to Kanaya. “But I’m not sure there will be any candy left for me to try by the time they’re finished.”

Kanaya took control of the situation. “Please, leave some sweets for Rose. These types are all ones she hasn’t tried before, and I had hoped to allow her the chance to.”

Nepeta’s reaction was similar to Jade’s. “Whaaat? You haven’t had any of these? Did you have no childhood?”

“There isn’t any licorice,” Aradia said with a trace of disappointment. 

***

“Perhaps this wasn’t the wisest of plans.” Kanaya ran her hands through the mess of empty wrappers, gathering them into a pile. Nepeta giggled loudly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! This is so nice! I feel like…” She flopped over on the bed so she was upside-down. “My blood is made of chocolate! I feel like I wanna _dance_!”

“You already danced when you won Jenga, remember?” Rose had watched the girl’s sugar-induced antics with amusement, until she was pulled in and required to dance as well. She and the others had ended up spinning around the room until they crashed into Rose’s bed. 

“Oh, right. I forgot. Well, I wanna do _some_ thing!” Nepeta opened her interface. “Hmm…” She let out a sudden squeal. “Ahh! IncipiFeed just released a new quiz, we’ve got to try it!”

Rose scooted closer so the five girls were sitting in a circle on the bed. “I’m game. What type of quiz is it?” She had become familiar with IncipiFeed through Nepeta’s frequent inquiries of things like, “do you want to know what type of fruit you are?”

“Let us guess your aspect,” Nepeta read aloud. “Are you an intelligent child of Mind, or a romantic Heart-born?” She giggled again. “I know which I am! Okay, who wants to go first?”

“I suppose I will,” Aradia said, resting her face on her hands and looking up at Nepeta with raised eyebrows. “I’m Time-born. Let’s see if it shows.”

Nepeta scrolled to the first question. “You pride yourself in, one, your luck, two, your status, three… Hmm. There are too many of these to read out. Aradia, what do you pride yourself in?”

Aradia pondered for a moment. “Well… When I find myself beginning to understand the world around me enough to form a coherent theory of human purpose, that’s always a source of pride… But I’m also proud of my skull collection.”

Nepeta paused. “Yeah, neither of those are options, so I’m checking off ‘pessimism.’ What is your favorite color?”

“Dark red. Or black, I guess.”

“If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”

This continued until Aradia received a result, which Nepeta read aloud. “You are Doom-born! You can be a little depressing sometimes, but you’re still a good friend. You accept your place in the world and enjoy what you have without being jealous of others. Hey, it may not have gotten the aspect right, but the personality’s spot-on.”

“Do me next,” Rose said, surprising herself. She had began her evening with the intention of focusing on Kanaya, but she was having an unprecedented amount of fun with the other girls. She suspected she might even to be able to call them her friends soon. It was a strange sensation. In the past she had had the other trainees, but even those who were more amicable in the facility were just friendly rivals. She had never had a real friendship. She hoped these oddly positive feelings wouldn’t develop into one.

She didn’t know what she should do. Making friends was _definitely_ not a part of her mission, it would clearly only serve as a hindrance to her. It wasn’t supposed to happen. But there was no way she could stop it. If her heart was determined to grow attached despite the warnings of her mind, it was beyond her to stop it. Her emotions were, for the first time in years, completely out of her control. 

It was not a good omen for the state of her mission.

“Okay, what’s your aspect?” Nepeta asked, oblivious to Rose’s moment of self-evaluation. 

“Light,” Rose responded. She was still off in her own world, thinking about her probability of success. She would have to kill Kanaya before she got too attached…

“What do you pride yourself in?” Nepeta prompted her. 

_My ability to kill in cold blood._

“My determination?”

“Nice, you actually picked one that’s an option.”

The quiz managed to determine Rose’s correct aspect. “You are Light-born!” Nepeta read aloud. “You have an unusual amount of luck, but you also have the skill to accomplish what you need to. You think things through before acting and are a reliable person.”

An unusual amount of luck? The traces of companionship Rose felt as Nepeta read her results begged to differ. As for the skill to do what must be done… That was what Rose was worried about. 

She shook herself. She was making entirely too big a deal out of this. These feelings would surely go away. If they wouldn’t do so on their own, she would force them to. Killing Kanaya would be easy! Why shouldn’t it be? She’d never had a problem with killing before, her upgrades had made sure of that.

Nepeta began quizzing Jade, taking no notice of Rose’s preoccupation. Kanaya, however, gave her a curious look. 

“Rose, would you mind showing me to the bathroom?” she asked quietly. Rose nodded and stood, beckoning for Kanaya to follow.

Once they were across Rose’s living room, a good distance from the bedroom, Kanaya stopped her. “Rose, is something the matter? You’re acting a bit odd.”

It was only a tiny part of Rose that responded to Kanaya’s observation, but it ached with the force of something much larger. Why did she have to be so compassionate? It made Rose’s job all the harder.

Too late, she realized Kanaya was still waiting for an answer. She made up a story on the spot. “It’s just…” Rose paused. “I’ve never really had friends before. Tonight has been nice, but I don’t know what comes after this. I don’t know how to be a friend to someone.”

Kanaya smiled softly. “That’s what I suspected. But, you know, you don’t need to be afraid. I haven’t known you long, it’s true, but I like you very much. Judging by the time we’ve spent together recently, you’re a great friend. I’m very happy around you.”

“Thank you. That means a lot,” said Rose. And it did. It meant that Kanaya was foolish for placing such trust in a girl like Rose, and Rose was perhaps even more so, because she couldn’t stop giving Kanaya reason to. 

Kanaya reached out and took Rose’s hand, squeezing it gently. “You’ll be all right.” Rose cursed her traitorous heart as its pace increased. 

Rose squeezed back. “Thank you for being so good to me.” Kanaya’s hand was cool and smooth and strangely soothing, and Rose had to force herself to let go. Why were her upgrades failing her? 

Kanaya let go, and Rose’s head began to swirl. A part of her wanted to take Kanaya’s hand back. Another was disgusted with herself for being so sentimental. And yet another realized something she should have long ago. 

She had never felt anything like this before she left the facility. Something must have happened while she was traveling. She should have known the second she breathed in the fresh air of the outside world and thirsted for adventure… Something had happened to her upgrades.

Kanaya was heading back to the bedroom. Rose didn’t move, still standing and thinking. If her upgrades had broken, it would mean disaster. She had never heard of anyone killing without an emotion upgrade. They were built specifically to ease the pain of murder for soldiers and euthanasists, and without hers functional, there was no hope to complete her mission. 

Frantically, she wracked her brains for a solution. Fixing it wasn’t an option. She had no idea what parts went into an upgrade, not to mention that the repairs would involve performing surgery on her own brain. The only solution seemed to be to do the impossible. After all, if she failed in her mission…

She wouldn’t live to see the sunrise. 

“Rose, are you coming?” Kanaya waited with her hand on the doorknob. Rose caught up and slipped inside, rejoining the group of girls. 

“What took you so long?” Jade laughed. “It said Nepeta was _Hope-born!_ As if she could be anything but Heart. It’s your turn now, Kanaya.”

Rose settled onto the bed in her former spot, a bit further from Kanaya than before. She was starting to notice different things, now that she knew her feelings weren’t just a fluke. Like how Kanaya tucked her hair behind her ears when she was nervous. How her lips curved when she smiled. How she enunciated every word she spoke so clearly, except when she started to talk about something she loved. She and Jade interrupted the quizzing to rant about their gardens, and Kanaya’s syllables became the tiniest bit less crisp as she updated her friend on the progress of her lavender crop.

If Rose breathed in deep, she could almost smell it on Kanaya’s skin. 

This was unacceptable.


	8. Lucid

Rose looked at her hand. Resting in her palm was a sharp-edged blade.

When she looked up, in front of her was Kanaya. Rose could see her lips moving, but she heard no sound. She looked as if she was asking a question. Rose’s fingers curled around the knife’s handle. She looked to the side.

There was Doctor Scratch. Rose’s gaze faltered; for the man had no face. He seemed to be looking at her, his head tilted slightly.

 _You know what must be done._ His voice was quietly commanding, but he had not spoken aloud.

Rose looked back to Kanaya, swallowing hard. Her grip on the knife tightened. 

_It must happen soon._

Rose stepped closer to Kanaya, but as she did so, Kanaya stepped back. She pointed to the knife in Rose’s hand. Her words were silent, but in her face was confusion and a trace of fear.

 _What are you waiting for, Rose?_ The voice changed into something higher, more feminine. 

Rose looked back to Scratch and startled. Where had stood her captor was now her rival. Vriska smirked at her, a challenge in her voice.

_Why aren’t you doing it?_

_Are you just too weak?_

But the voice was changing again. It remained high, but the timbre was altered into something even more familiar. 

Rose watched in horror as Vriska’s features began to morph. Her eyes widened and changed their shape, her lips grew fuller and pinker. Her face became less angular, growing into the shape of a long, smooth, oval. In a moment, Rose stood face to face with a mirror image of herself. 

_We have to kill her, you know._ This time, it was Rose’s own voice that echoed in her ears. She looked back to Kanaya, determination hardening her features. The fear hiding behind Kanaya’s eyes revealed itself in full, and she began to back away. Rose grabbed her by the shoulder. 

She raised the knife. Kanaya’s eyes squeezed shut. A single tear leaked out from beneath her closed lids. Rose’s hand stayed frozen in the air.

She raised the knife higher. But, for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to slice it down. She gritted her teeth, trying to summon her resolve. The tear traced slowly down Kanaya’s cheek.

_You know what happens if we don’t do it._

She did know.

She just… couldn’t.

She dropped the knife, but, in a flash, a white-gloved hand reached out and caught it. She barely had time to glance back and register the disappearance of her clone before Doctor Scratch rammed the blade through her chest. 

The purple squid on the shirt Kanaya had bought for her was stained red. Her heart squeezed tighter and tighter as the blood seeped through the cloth, stealing her breath away, until finally, it stopped.

Rose woke with a gasp. 

She grabbed her blankets against her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. Her breathing came in frantic bursts, pierced by noises resembling sobs, and she knew if she didn’t quiet down she would wake Kanaya. The girl was sleeping on a spare mattress, unaware of her friend’s distress. 

This was not the first time the nightmare had plagued Rose’s sleep. Ever since the night she had realized the flaw in her upgrades, she had dreamed of the task ahead of her. Luckily, even when her reactions were less quiet, she had always woken while Kanaya was still fast asleep. Once the shakiness faded, she would listen carefully, but the girl’s deep, even breaths never changed. She wasn’t sure what she would do if the girl woke, and she didn’t want to find out. 

She checked her clock. It was 5:18, much too early to be awake. It would be over an hour before she and Kanaya would have to leave for school. There wasn’t much for her to do in her empty house until then. The best option seemed to be to return to sleep.

But would the dream return? If it did, Kanaya would surely notice when she awoke. 

She would stay in bed, but not fall asleep, Rose decided. She rolled over to face Kanaya, who was still dead to the world on a spare mattress. 

She would never know the turmoil of Rose’s mind. She was an innocent, kept safe in the world’s sheltering arms. Rose, however, had been cast out. From the day she was born she had been left to fend for herself, with that world which was meant to protect trying its hardest to bring her down. 

Pondering the danger she was in was no way to spend the time before Rose had to leave for school, but the insistent thoughts snuck their way in anyhow, reminding her of all the things she had done wrong. She had let her upgrades break, _how_ had she done such a thing? And now she was completely letting herself go because of it. She was letting herself fear not only for herself, but for the very person she should be wishing harm on. She was allowing herself to get attached. If Scratch found out, which he undoubtedly would, he would kill her. 

If Scratch had never existed, none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t have been kidnapped and taught that the weak deserved death. She wouldn’t have upgrades, they wouldn’t be broken, and she would have no reason to fear for her life.

Kanaya turned over, and Rose shivered. She continued to lay, sleepless, for another twenty minutes. It did her no good, and her worries were still in the front of her mind.

Maybe if she distracted herself, she wouldn’t have to dwell on what she could not fix. She tossed her blankets aside and rolled out of bed. Padding into the kitchen, she searched for something to do. 

She could make breakfast, but she wasn’t feeling much up to eating. Her heart was still pounding uncomfortably from her dream. Her stomach would likely reject anything she tried to put into it. 

But cooking was practically the only thing she could do in her empty house. Perhaps she would take a leaf out of Kanaya’s book and stock up on board games… 

She opened her fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs. If she couldn’t make breakfast for herself, she would do it for Kanaya. It was better than thinking about how to kill her and whether or not she should. 

She lifted a skillet from the shelf and turned on the stove. Eggs were something she hadn’t made before, but she knew the theory. You just had to crack the egg on the side of the pan, and… Rose tapped the egg on the pan’s rim.

The shell smashed in her fingers and egg whites dripped down her arm and onto the floor.

No matter. She would try again. She tossed the crumpled egg into the trash and attempted to crack another.

This time, only a small portion of the egg dribbled onto her hand. Most of it landed in the pan and began to sizzle. She grabbed a spatula and stirred it around, unsure how she should continue. 

She continued to stir the egg until it began to solidify and brown, at which time Rose pronounced it done. She scooped the mess onto a plate, wiped her sticky hands off, and poured a glass of water.

In the process of cooking, she had gotten hungry herself, so she went ahead and made another egg. By the time she was finished, it was 6:30. A little earlier than she usually woke, but rising Kanaya now would do no harm. She went back to the bedroom.

“Kanaya?” Rose said softly. “Sorry to wake you. I made us some breakfast.” She switched on the light.

Kanaya squeezed her closed eyes shut a bit tighter, then opened them into a squint. “It is a bit early to be awake, Rose.”

“It isn’t much earlier than we normally rise. Did you hear what I said?”

Kanaya pushed her blanket away and sat up, brushing her hair out of her face. “Yes, thank you. I did not expect you to do any such thing, or I would have assisted. What did you make?”

“Eggs. I’m not sure how well I prepared them, but I’ve made sure that they are edible.” 

Kanaya nodded in satisfaction and stood up. She stretched, reaching her arms back and yawning as she made her way to the kitchen table. She pulled out her chair and sat down heavily, inhaling the scent of food. Rose took the seat across from her. 

Kanaya dug in, and Rose awaited a verdict. “Well? How is it?”

Kanaya set down her fork. “Wonderful, as I expected. I will have to repay you come tomorrow.”

Rose shook her head. “There’s no need. I woke up early and I was looking for something to do, it was no significant endeavor.”

“But it was an unnecessary kindness,” Kanaya pointed out. “You could have done something else.”

Rose winced. It was true, she could easily have chosen to do something that didn’t benefit Kanaya. She didn’t need to be reminded of how soft she was becoming.

“Even so. You needn’t repay me for the products of my boredom.” Rose changed the subject. “It’s nearly time to leave, we should clean up and go, don’t you think?”

Kanaya laid her silverware on her plate and carried it to the sink. “If you will not let me make tomorrow’s breakfast, I will do the dishes now. Please do not argue.”

Rose accepted defeat and set her plate next to Kanaya’s. The girl smiled and began to rinse it off. For a moment, the only sound was rushing water. 

“So, have you made much progress on your essay?” Kanaya asked. “I saw you working on it the other night.”

“Yes... “ Rose hesitated. “It’s coming along fine. But the topic is a bit difficult for me to work with.”

Kanaya moved on to wash her own plate. “What, the death penalty? How so?”

“It’s hard for me personally. I want to argue against it, but as I continue with my research, I begin to understand just how much victims and their families suffer.” Rose frowned as she handed Kanaya a towel to dry the plates.

“Well, it all depends on whether you believe that their suffering warrants such punishment.” Kanaya looked around the kitchen. “Where do these go?”

Rose took the plates from her and put them back in their cupboard. “I’m not sure if it does or not. I think I’ll keep the position that it doesn’t, though. I would prefer not to completely re-work the paper.”

“Well, you are not alone. I am in a position relatively similar to yours. It is difficult to speak confidently on a subject I am not well-versed on.” 

Rose recalled the conversation in which Kanaya had nearly confessed as to why her mother was so against neurotechnology. It made no difference now that Rose knew about Porrim, but she supposed she should act surprised if Kanaya ever decided to reveal her secret. 

“Well, we’re both perfectly capable enough to do it. Are you finished?” Rose watched as Kanaya dried off the utensils and set them in a nearby drawer. 

“Yes, let me get my bag.” Kanaya disappeared into the bedroom, then reappeared with her emerald green bag slung over her shoulder. “How much time do we have?”

Rose checked her clock again. “Ten minutes. We’ll arrive early if we leave now. Do you think we should?”

“We might as well. I want to ask Ms. Dilara a question before class, anyhow.” 

Rose nodded. “Let us be off, then.”

Once Kanaya was out the door, Rose locked it behind them. She hurried down the steps to join her friend, and the two began their trek down the street to the nearest transport pad. As Rose walked, a strange feeling crept its way up her spine.

She glanced over her shoulder. There was nothing there, only the blank doors of other apartments and a few hoverpods parked on the streetside.

She shook off the feeling. No one was there, no one was watching her. No one could touch her here. 

Somehow, she didn’t quite believe herself.

***

After school, Rose and Kanaya had begun a tradition of meeting beside the painting of the galactic frog. There they would wave goodbye to their other friends and exchange news before they headed to Rose’s apartment together.

“Rose!” Kanaya ran up to her, a smile stretching across her face. “I heard from Tavros that you have started playing with the orchestra. Why did you not inform me?”

“Do you require updates on all of my daily activities?” said Rose, amused. “I was going to tell you. I simply forgot.”

“You must play for me this evening. The last I remember, the violin sounded as though your playing it put it through extreme pain. You must have improved if you are welcome among the group now.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “What a ridiculous and unfounded accusation. My playing does not and has never induced pain upon my instrument.”

“But it did induce pain upon my ears,” Kanaya shuddered. Rose slapped her shoulder lightly.

“Well, it no longer does anything of the sort. I even earned a compliment from Damara.”

Kanaya’s eyes widened. “Impossible!”

Rose began heading for the door. “Improbable, not impossible. She told me that my playing sounded much better, and that it actually sounded like a violin now.”

“Coming from her, that’s calling you a musical genius,” Kanaya said, impressed. 

“Well, I have learned very fast. I think I deserve a bit of recognition,” Rose said loftily. Then the smile broke through her mask of confidence. “I’m kidding. I am glad to be a part of the general orchestra now, but I’m hardly its best player. I’m last chair.”

“I am sure you are much better than you make yourself out to be. Mr. Damien would not have let you in unless you showed proof of your ability.” Kanaya held the door open for Rose, who stepped through with a nod of gratitude. 

“You’re too kind. But enough of me, how was your day?”

“It was nice. Ms. Ruby had to speak to Mituna during government…” 

Rose and Kanaya discussed the parts of their days which they hadn’t shared as they made their way back to the apartment. Kanaya had witness Cronus attempting to flirt with Latula despite her being in a relationship, which explained how snappish she had been during Rose’s robotics class. Rose had also taken careful notes on the psychological inclinations of one Kankri Vantas, which Kanaya was unable to read through without falling into fits of laughter. When they ran out of fresh discussion topics, they walked in silence. It was not an awkward silence, but one of relaxed companionship.

Rose went ahead of Kanaya to unlock the apartment door. She pushed it open, opening her mouth to ask Kanaya what they should have for dinner, then stopped cold.

There was a man whom she had never seen sitting on her kitchen counter. 

He immediately leaped up, gesturing to Rose to be quiet. “Don’t act suspicious, just make her think you know me,” he hissed, jerking his head towards Kanaya, who was about to step inside.

Kanaya slipped her shoes off and closed the door behind her. “Who’s this, Rose?”

Rose opened her mouth. She didn’t know if she should trust the man or not.

“Oh, of course!” Kanaya slapped a hand to her forehead. “This must be your father?” She rushed forward and took the man’s hand, shaking it profusely. “Hello, sir. My name is Kanaya, I am sure Rose has spoken of me before.”

The man smiled and tipped his dark hat to Kanaya. The smile seemed unnatural on his face, too sharp, more like a villain’s evil grin than a welcoming gesture. “Yeah, she’s talked about ya. I’m Jack. I don’t mean to intrude on your heartwarmin’ little friendship deal, but would you mind if I had a quick word with my daughter?” His eyes flitted to Rose with his last word.

Kanaya nodded. “Of course not! Please, take as long as you would like.” She pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down, her posture upright and obedient. 

“Thanks.” The man, Jack, grabbed Rose’s hand and pulled her across the living room and into the bedroom. 

Once the door was fully closed, Rose backed away. “Who are you?” she said suspiciously. “Why are you here, and why are you pretending to be my father?”

Jack leaned against the wall casually. “Slow it down. You got nothin’ to worry about. I work for Scratch.”

“Why are you here?” Rose repeated. Knowing he was one of Scratch’s cronies gave her no peace of mind. In fact, it made her even more on edge.

“Just thought you should know… The mom’s been taken care of. Good job on that one, by the way,” he added. “So, you’re totally free to off the kid whenever you want, no parent to come home and cry over her corpse. Sooner would be better than later, but if you think you can get more information out of her, I ain’t gonna stop you.”

Rose felt slightly sick. She fought not to let it show on her face. “Wait, Rosa Maryam is dead?”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “What, you got a problem with that? You should be able to adapt no problem.”

Rose nodded, her heart pounding. “Yes… I will. Is there anything else I need to know?”

Jack shook his head. “Nah. But if you ever need me, I’ll be around. I’ve been around this whole time. Just to keep the doc up to speed on your progress, y’know the deal.”

Rose’s heart sank. “You’ve been watching everything I do?”

Jack laughed sharply. “Yeah. Don’t have a fit, though, kid, I can’t read minds. I haven’t been creepin’ on your teenage fantasies or anythin’.”

“There wouldn’t be any for you to ‘creep on’ anyways,” Rose said coolly. “My focus has been my job since day one.” Could he tell she was lying?

“Yeah, whatever.” Jack pulled the door open. “Well, I’m gettin’ the hell outta here. See you around.” He winked. “Not that you’ll see me, of course.” 

He passed through the room, nodding to Kanaya, and was promptly out the door. Rose stared after him. She had known Scratch must have been keeping tabs on her, but she hadn’t known to what degree. She hoped Jack hadn’t realized her upgrades were malfunctioning. 

“What was that about?” Kanaya said curiously. 

“Nothing,” Rose said distantly. “He just… wanted to make sure I was keeping up with all my work. Since we don’t get many opportunities to talk, and all.”

“You seem a bit bothered.” Kanaya glanced at the door. “I would be, too. He seems intimidating.”

She had no idea. 

“Rose, I…” Kanaya hesitated. Rose looked at her. “...Nevermind. It can wait. Shall we start on our homework?”

What had she been about to say? Rose wished she could ask. Instead, she nodded. She and Kanaya retreated to the bedroom, taking their usual spots next to each other on the bed and working in silence, except in the moments which Kanaya or Rose would ask for help with a question. 

The silence allowed Rose’s mind to wander. How long could she wait before she would have to complete her mission? Could Scratch tell how reluctant she was? Did he know why?

If he did, it would be a surprise. Rose didn’t even know herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50 kudos!! woohoo!!
> 
> aaaa I love having readers thank you all


	9. Laboratory

Bored, bored, boooooooored.

That was all Vriska had been for the past month. Months. She couldn’t keep track of time any longer. Every second she didn’t spend on a mission, she spent searching for something to do.

She opened her interface, perfectly aware that she would find nothing of interest on the bright screen. She had hacked into the other trainees’ accounts too many times for it to hold any more entertainment. The network had ceased to interest her. She didn’t know where that spark of intrigue she used to feel when discovering something new had gone. It had simply disappeared, taking with it Vriska’s purpose. 

She opened her radar application. Someone new was in the building. She looked a little closer, opening her aspect upgrade as well and sending out a tester. It would tell her how easily the newcomer could be hacked. 

The test came back with an unsatisfactory reading, and Vriska scowled. It must have been one of Scratch’s workers. She could never seem to break into their screens, no matter how hard she tried.

She could see pieces of the stranger’s profile, but it was like looking through a keyhole into a grand hall beyond. The only things she could see were an ID number and a gender. She knew that her stranger was a man, and that his ID was 6725891. Big whoop. 

She closed her upgrade with a sigh. Having no feelings really sucked, given that nothing could satisfy you. She couldn’t even find the resolve to complain. Her heart was completely empty. 

She wished her turn to remove the upgrade would come sooner. She had watched her companions, one by one, leave, and return with renewed emotional capacity. A schedule was posted on the wall, declaring her name as one of the last on the list. She rolled her eyes impatiently. She just wanted her upgrade gone. It was helpful in the field, sure, but if Scratch saw fit to remove it anyway, she wasn’t going to argue. 

Was there anything new for her to do? Anything at all? She wracked her brains for an answer.

She came up with a big, fat, shiny “no.”

Vriska laid back on her pod’s hard lid. The interior was much more comfortable, but she didn’t feel like sleeping. This was as good a place to recline as any, and it wasn’t like there was anyone else in the barracks to ask her what she was doing. They were all off on missions or training. 

She supposed she could get up and train some more, but she had no need of it. Her muscles were perfectly toned, she had beaten every simulation in the facility, and no matter how hard they tried, the computers had yet to invent a puzzle she couldn’t solve. It was pathetic, really. The amount of cash boss must have had to make it all, and it wasn’t nearly enough to best her.

She could always go straight to Doctor Scratch’s office and request a mission...

Once, that thought would have made her laugh out loud.

You didn’t just ask Scratch for favors. He wouldn’t do anything for you out of the goodness of his heart. If he wanted something done, he would have you do it, but if no action was necessary, you were straight out of luck. Vriska wouldn’t be killing again until she was needed to. 

There was an itch beneath her skin. She could not accept that there was nothing for her to do. If she didn’t have a purpose, she was basically useless, and therefore might as well drop dead. 

Vriska pushed herself upright. If Scratch wouldn’t give her a purpose, she’d make one for herself. She opened her aspect upgrade again and scrolled through her history. Back weeks, weeks, a month, more… There it was.

There had been a woman. She had woken Vriska in the middle of the night, asked questions, and left. What was her name? Snowball? Vriska couldn’t remember. She had attempted to hack the mystery woman to no avail that very night. But the ID number she had found was still there in her history. 

Standard procedure for her upgrade was to check a person’s profile, enter their ID number, and reap the spoils. But when Vriska had tried entering the number, there was only an error message-- the woman must have been one of Scratch’s workers.

But a message was only a message, and she wasn’t about to let a computer tell her what to do. 

Vriska entered the number again. The same notification popped up, but this time, she ignored it. Now, she would need to locate the upgrade’s code… 

The door slid open, and Vriska jumped. Terezi stood in the doorway, her nose bloody. 

“What happened to you?”

“Just sparring.” Terezi plopped down next to Vriska. “So, what are you doing?”

“What’s it to you?” Vriska snapped. Terezi raised an eyebrow.

“Who put itch powder in your undies today? Jeez.” 

Vriska sighed. “Sorry. I’m just bored as hell, y’know? I’m digging through old upgrade stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Terezi scooted closer, her eyes gleaming. “You’ve got that look you get when you’re reading through other people’s private messages. You wouldn’t do that without me, would you?”

“It’s… more complicated than that.” Vriska returned her focus to her upgrade, searching through the code of her main computer to find anything related to the upgrade. “I can’t tell you.” She glanced up at the security camera in the corner of the room. Terezi’s eyes followed, and she nodded in understanding. A moment later, a message popped up on Vriska’s screen. It was from Terezi.

_What’s up?_

Vriska responded. _You remember that lady from a while back who woke us all up in the middle of the night? I’m gonna try to hack her. I just need to figure out how to break down her firewalls._

Terezi made a small noise of surprise. _You could get in big trouble for that, couldn’t you?_

_Honestly, I don’t even care anymore._

Vriska glanced at Terezi. Her face radiated disapproval. 

_If you’re going to do something that risky, you have to let me help._

Vriska shook her head slightly. _No. This is_ my _upgrade, and_ my _business._

_But who knows what you’ll find? I might be a lot better at deciphering it than you. No, don’t give me that look. I’m the Mind-born here. Look at the bigger picture._

_What if I don’t find anything?_

Terezi shrugged. _Then you get to gloat about how you were right. But you know it won’t be nothing if it’s one of the doctor’s people._

Vriska groaned quietly. “Terezi, you’re fucking annoying when you’re smart.” She closed her eyes and waited. When she opened one lid, Terezi was still waiting expectantly. Vriska sighed. “You’re really not gonna get off my case, huh?”

Terezi grinned. “Duh. Who do you take me for?” She followed this statement with a message. _Show me how your upgrade works and let’s get started._

Vriska projected her screen for Terezi to see. She watched as Vriska entered Snowman’s ID number and waited.

The entry field disappeared and was replaced by a complete profile and set of folders. Vriska’s jaw dropped.

“No way! It didn’t work before. What the hell happened to all her protection?”

“I don’t know,” Terezi mused. “But it seems like you won’t be getting in trouble after all.”

Vriska took a closer look at the folders. One was labeled “Journal,” another, “Notes”, along with several others. She opened “Notes” and began to read aloud.

“HB MC at 98 percent, continue influence of simulations, increase puzzle difficulty. BB MC at 87 percent, increase puzzle difficulty. What’s all this?” She scrolled further down, but the file was filled with phrases and letters that meant nothing to her. She closed it and opened “Journal,” Terezi leaning over her shoulder to read.

“Log date 0114XX6. The subjects’ developments have made no progress for the past six months. I believe they are reaching the end of their progression. I will give them another year, perhaps two to be sure, but I will soon begin to think about implementing my next experiment. I am considering using the control subject in my next test.” Vriska stopped. “Subjects… Is she talking about us?”

“So, we’re an experiment,” Terezi said thoughtfully. “That makes a lot of sense. The only question is, what’s being tested?” 

Vriska continued reading. “Though she has no aspect upgrade, she displays traces of heightened ability. I cannot be sure if this is due to her training or the placebo effect, but I believe it warrants further investigation.” 

Terezi breathed deeply. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” 

“I can’t know for sure. Like you said, that’s your specialty, not mine. What are you thinking?”

“Well, think about it.” Terezi paused. “Who among our numbers has always been a little different? Like she was here for some other reason?”

Vriska’s eyes narrowed. “Oooooooh. Now _that_ makes sense. How else could she have acted like such a useless sack of crap this whole time and not get what she was coming to?” She nodded triumphantly. “She was never like us! They didn’t need two Light kids, they just needed a control group. Oh, that Rose… But… If we’re really not progressing anymore... Then maybe she really _is_ useless. You don’t suppose they’d miss her?”

“Hey, I know that look. Don’t do anything stupid,” Terezi warned. “We should be thinking about ourselves. Are you not at all worried that pretty soon, this bunch isn’t going to need us anymore? You’re not at all scared that they might just kill us all?”

Vriska tapped her skull. “No room to be scared, remember?”

Terezi bit her lip. “I would’ve said that before my surgery too. You might start thinking differently when they take your emotion upgrade out.”

“You saw the schedule, my turn isn’t for a long time. Be quiet and help me look through these files. I want to find where that little rat got sent off to... I need to pay her a visit.”

***

_You will stop this nonsense at once._

Jack gritted his teeth, tugging the pair of hands down from his throat enough for him to speak. “Does it look to you like I’m the one in charge here, doc?”

_Both of you. Stop this, now._

“I seem to be having a bit of trouble hearing you, Scratch,” Snowman snapped. Her fingers squeezed tighter.

“If you do not cease acting like a pair of children, I will be forced to eject you both from my office,” Scratch threatened aloud. 

The two froze in place. The quiet hum of the electric lighting was the only sound. Finally, Snowman let go of Jack’s neck and stalked to the other end of the room. He coughed and looked at her with murder in his eyes. “Bitch had to take it that far, huh?”

“Enough. I brought you here for a progress report, not to witness your pointless infighting. Mr. Noir. How did the Light-born react to the news?”

Jack shrugged. “She freaked, obviously, but she didn’t show much. She probably doesn’t want you realizin’ how much trouble she’s havin’.”

“Of course she doesn’t,” Snowman cut in. “She has no idea her emotion upgrade was removed, she’ll be terribly confused and upset. She wasn’t warned like the subjects you’ve more recently returned emotion to.”

“That much is true. But, she is still making enough progress to earn her keep. She is the reason we finally eliminated Rosa Maryam, after all,” Scratch said with satisfaction. “It seems all is going according to plan. Once she has gathered enough information regarding the Union, she will be removed from her current environment and brought back where she belongs. Mr. Noir, I will leave you in charge of her retrieval.”

Jack slumped down into a chair, rubbing his sore neck. “How am I supposed to figure when she’s got enough info?”

“You will know. Once her target’s time is up, she will be extremely reluctant to make any further headway. You need only watch, wait, and step in when the time is right.” 

“How do you know that she will go no further?” Snowman spoke up. “It is unlikely, but not impossible. What will you do if she goes beyond all expectations and actually kills the girl?”

Doctor Scratch shrugged. “Then we will have a bit of cover-up work to do. It would be of no great importance, it is simply preferable that she remains alive.”

Snowman pursed her lips. “And what of the Union? What will happen if they manage to discover our location?”

“Do you believe me incompetent? I assessed the risks of sending her into the heart of their operations very carefully, and concluded that it would be safe. You see, now that she has no emotion upgrade, she has every reason to fear me.” 

“But suppose they find us anyhow?” Snowman pressed on. “I say she should be withdrawn sooner rather than later. This is yet more unnecessary jeopardy towards my experiments.”

“If they track us down, we’re screwed,” Jack said, looking at Snowman as if this should be obvious. “That’s why it’s my job to make sure her tongue don’t slip. You think I ain’t up to it?”

“You do have a tendency to become distracted,” Snowman said icily. “I cannot allow one mistake on your part to wreck all we have achieved.”

Jack bristled. “You make me sound like some kinda dumbass. Let’s see you try to run a whole goddamn black market!”

Snowman snorted. “I suppose you find that impressive. As if strutting around with a different name and a set of illegal machine parts in your coat pocket makes you intimidating.”

“Don’t diss the name. Spades Slick’ll beat your ass.”

“You are both getting distracted,” Scratch said pointedly. “Let us remain on the task at hand. Snowman, now that you have taken residence here, you have had a heightened opportunity to take data on the other subjects. Have there been any noteworthy developments?”

Snowman shook her head. “None. Their abilities have remained at a constant level of power for the past six months. I believe their time of development may be drawing to a close, but I may need a few more years to be completely sure.”

“We will need to explore how we will handle the end of their stay here.”

“Yes. We can choose to either wipe their memories and rehabilitate them, continue to use them for _your_ purposes, or dispose of them entirely... Although I may wish to keep several as test subjects for future experimentation.” 

Scratch nodded. “We will discuss plans privately at a later date. You are dismissed.”

Snowman pushed herself away from the wall she had been leaning against, and the door to Scratch’s office slid open. She walked out, the sound of her footsteps a quiet rhythm until it passed out of earshot. 

“I got a question for you, doc,” Jack said once she was gone. “How come your other Light chick keeps pokin’ at my firewalls? I can feel her every time I come to this place.”

“She is naturally inquisitive. She will do you no harm. Her powers reach only as far as they are permitted.” The doctor opened his interface. “That brings us conveniently to our next subject of briefing.” The holographic image of Snowman’s profile appeared in the air before him. 

“I have decided that now is as good a time as any to make use of the Light-born’s power.” The profile settings shifted, and it changed from an outsider’s view to a personal one, with full access to all files. “How ironic that Snowman’s own inventions would be used against her. With only a bit of weakening to her protections, the Light-born was able to break in and enable me to access this.” 

Jack read through the file, his eyes reflecting the shining hologram. 

_Log Date 1130XX6_

_I cannot stress strongly enough how I despise working with Scratch. His supposed “logic” is risky at best and puts us all in grave danger._

_It is even more infuriating when he turns out to be correct._

_I argued against using the second Light-born’s true name. If the Union members had decided to take action and drive information out of her, it would have been disaster. However, Scratch’s predictions were flawless, as usual, and Maryam’s vision was clouded by a thirst for revenge and reunion. A mother will do anything for her children. She was led to a location she believed to be the facility and was promptly disposed of by Jack. Yes, this is an accomplishment. No, I do not believe it justifies the risk._

_There is still the matter of the other Union members. They have undoubtedly realized the Light-born’s hidden nature as well, and I would bet my life that those more violent are campaigning to interrogate her._

_She is fragile now. She lived years without emotion and is just now becoming re-exposed to it, not gradually, but all at once. She believes herself weak for this, and it causes her distress. There is too much going on in that head of hers. I would not blame her if she let something slip, and I cannot afford for Jack to kill her if she does. It would be years of careful training and deception down the drain. Finding another subject to use as my control group would be a hassle I’d rather not engage in._

_I cannot allow this danger to continue. If Scratch does not agree to withdraw when I meet with him privately, I will invent some kind of story to ensure my own protection, then I will send for the girl myself._

Jack blinked slowly. “The hell? She thinks she’s gonna go up against you?”

“I admire her determination, but it only serves as a mask to conceal her delusion. She would not succeed in such an attempt. That is where the first Light-born once again enters the narrative.”

“Oh, yeah. She’s gonna know all that stuff too if she read it, huh?”

“Certainly. She will not have ignored the significance of the phrase ‘control group’, either. By now she will have put two and two together and realized that her aspect counterpart, in fact, has no aspect upgrade. She will not see any continued use for her, then she will take matters into her own hands.”

Jack looked up incredulously. “Wait, you sayin’ she’s gonna kill her? That wasn’t part of the plan.”

Scratch held up a hand. “It has always been my intention. I simply waited for the correct time as to make it known.”

“And you’re just gonna let her die?”

Jack saw the faintest trace of humor flash in Scratch eyes. “There is no reason I should not. A personal log was not the only thing the Light-born gave me access to.” A folder labeled “Notes” was displayed on the hologram. It was opened, and an incredible wall of text stretched from the floor to the ceiling. “She dismissed this folder, favoring the more dramatic journal, but to me, it is the most valuable thing she could have retrieved. It contains every bit of Snowman’s research for the past decade. All her experiments, hypotheses, notes, and,” he zoomed in on a smaller section of the file, “plans for future tests.”

Jack’s eyes widened. “Damn. What does that have to do with the kid, again?”

“Snowman said herself that this experiment was drawing to a close. We need not keep every subject around, nor, now that we have her research, the woman herself. Especially taking into account her rebellious inclinations as of late.”

Jack nodded in understanding. “You lookin’ to me, then?”

“Yes. Your mission henceforth will be to take note of any information the second Light-born collects, prevent her from revealing anything regarding her upbringing, oversee her demise, and, of course, take care of Snowman.”

“Yeah, about the whole ‘demise’ thing.” Jack leaned forward. “I know I’m soundin’ an awful lot like Snowman, but how do you know she’ll kill the control? The first Light-born, I mean, she’ll kill the second? Damn, this is too confusing. Good thing I won’t have to keep track of it all for long.”

“She has wished death upon her rival for years. She now has the opportunity to act upon that wish. Her emotion upgrade will be removed as soon as possible, of course, so the suppressed rage will take effect.”

“Dont’cha think Snowman’ll notice if one of her subjects randomly goes missing?”

“If necessary, she will be told the girl is out on a mission. But Snowman will not be a problem for much longer. 

Jack stood up. “So, we done here, then?” 

Scratch nodded. “You are dismissed. I believe you will find Snowman in the observation room, bring her to me, if you’d please.”

“Sure thing.” Jack grinned, his sharp teeth flashing. “Then I can bring her… to her doom?” He paused. “Wait, fuck. That was horrible. I can… There’s a pun in there somewhere. I can bring her… a knife in her throat. Shove a grenade up her ass, I don’t fuckin’ know.” He pushed his hat further down his forehead and stepped out the door. “See you around, doc.”

Doctor Scratch watched from the security cameras as Jack swept down the hall and towards the observation room, towards Snowman. He supposed he should prepare to deal with the angry scientist. It would be an annoyance, but she would soon be out of his hair. Then he could properly look over those files and consider which experiments he could use to advance his company. 

Jack swung the door open and snarled something to the woman, whose nose was poked into a folder full of papers. She snapped something back. Their enmity was quite amusing. They hated each other with a passion, but she would never expect Jack to cause her real harm… 

Scratch echoed Jack’s sentiments to the now-empty room.

“Yes, Mr. Noir. We will be seeing much more of each other in the near future.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand, this fic is officially Halfway Done! *confetti bursts from the ceiling* Thanks for reading, please keep sending in comments!


	10. Lucky

“No! Calmasis has to be with _Frigglish_!” Nepeta insisted. 

Jade shook her head emphatically. “Nuh-uh. Zazzerpan and Calmasis are the ultimate adversaries, they make for such a great pairing!”

Nepeta looked pained. “Calmasis _killed_ Frigglish, is that not antagonistic enough for you?”

“Antagonism is different from death. Tragic romance makes me too sad. Besides, the height difference between Cal and Zaz is the cutest!”

Rose watched with amusement from Jade’s bed, where she had taken up residence. Kanaya sat beside her, carefully weaving the vines of a lush green plant into a french braid and tucking purple flowers into the bunch at regular intervals. The braids of a previously woven plant descended from the mattress down to the floor. 

“But imagine Cal and Frigglish trading bow ties,” Nepeta said wistfully. “You can’t deny a love like that!”

Jade picked up a red marker from the ground. “Watch me!” She slashed a scarlet X across the drawing of Frigglish and Calmasis Nepeta had drawn on her whiteboard.

“Hey!” Nepeta shrieked. “This means _war!_ ” She grabbed the marker and scribbled out Jade’s portrait of Zazzerpan and Calmasis, as well as a doodle of Herbert and Slinus with hearts around their faces. 

Rose spoke up. “The romantic entanglements of Calmasis aside, would I be crucified if I admitted my taste for Russbert?”

Nepeta moaned. “Nooo, not you too! Herbert isn’t even in the books, and he’s supposed to be with Beatrix, not Russet, I thought you were better than that!”

“The movie does persevere in its efforts to convince the watcher of Beatrix and Herbert’s romantic leanings, but I cannot set aside the tension between he and Russet. They are more than mere ‘bros’. They are,” Rose leaned forward and lowered her voice to a whisper, “the _ultimate OTP._ ” 

“Shut up! I’m not listening!” Nepeta opened her interface. “I’m gonna write on your profile that you watched the movies before reading the books, you fake fan, you!”

“Hey!” Rose protested. “I believe that constitutes to slander.”

“I don’t care, your ships are…” Nepeta stopped. She looked at something on her interface before gaping at Rose in surprise. “Dude!”

“What is it?”

Nepeta hurled herself forward onto the bed, pinning a startled Rose to the wall. _”Why didn’t you tell us it was your birthday?”_ Jade and Kanaya immediately turned and stared at Rose.

“Oh my gosh, happy birthday!” Jade squealed. 

“Returning to Nepeta’s question, why did you not inform us of this?” Kanaya demanded. 

Rose was still processing the initial exclamation.

It was her birthday?

Rose had never known her date of birth before. The age displayed on her profile would change from year to year, yes, but she had never pinned down the exact day of the shift. She opened her interface to check. Sure enough, the number next to her profile picture had changed from sixteen to seventeen. 

She coughed to disguise her momentary confusion, her mind going through the familiar process of fabricating an instant lie. “I just… didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I’m not one for celebrations.” She was actually quite curious as to what a birthday celebration would entail, but if they were to believe her lie, she would have to act as if it were true. 

“Have you ever had a birthday party?” Nepeta said shrewdly. 

“... No,” Rose mumbled. Nepeta grabbed onto her hand.

“We need to celebrate!”

Rose shook her head. “No, we do not. I’m perfectly content to stay here and continue as we have been. Please, go on with your shipping war.”

“I can’t concentrate on the Complacency if we have a birthday girl in the room,” Nepeta said stubbornly. “We have to do at least _something_. It’s practically a law.”

“If Rose would not like to celebrate, then we will not,” said Kanaya. “It is her decision and we must respect her wishes.” Rose threw her a grateful look.

Nepeta slumped back onto the floor. “Fiiine.”

Jade’s hand shot into the air. “But… can we go and get cake? I mean, in a completely non-birthday-related context? I could really go for some cake right now. Even cupcakes would be enough!” Nepeta nodded in agreement. 

Jade and the others looked to Rose. Nepeta’s eyes were filled with a pitiful longing. She clasped a pleading pair of hands to her heart. 

Rose surrendered. “All right, we can get cupcakes.” 

Nepeta and Jade high fived. 

“Jane’s father owns a bakery downtown,” Kanaya suggested. “I believe cakes are his specialty.”

“Yes, yes!” Nepeta bounced in place. “I’ve had one of his, they’re _amazing._ Let’s go right now!”

Rose lifted the section of braided vines that rested on her leg and swung her feet down onto the floor. Kanaya wound the rest of the plant around its pot and set it next to Jade’s pillow. Jade was packing up the whiteboards, and Nepeta was already at the door, waiting impatiently for her friends. 

“I will have to think of a suitable gift to give you,” Kanaya mused. “I believe I have something in mind.” 

“Ooh, I need to think of something too,” Jade gasped. “Rose, are you the type for gift cards or hand-made presents?”

“I am neither,” Rose said sternly. “Gift-giving falls under the category of celebration.” She let the lie slip forth with a twinge of regret, wondering what they would give her if she would allow it.

Nepeta waited until her friends were following before heading down the stairs. “Well, at least with no presents we’ll have more money for cake!”

Jade hopped onto the handrail and glided down it until she reached the landing, where she got off and sat down on the next rail. “We should get the cupcakes with pictures of our OTPs,” she giggled as she made her way to the bottom of the staircase. “Zazmasis cake!”

“Stop!” Nepeta clapped her hands to her ears. “You’re ruining my favorite dessert!”

***

Jade licked a dollop of vanilla frosting from her cupcake. “Mmm. Thanks for suggesting we go here, Kanaya.” 

Kanaya had a mouth full of red velvet, and she took a moment to swallow before answering. “You are very welcome. Rose, what do you think?”

“This is most definitely the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten,” said Rose, setting down her cupcake wrapper on a napkin. “Jade, you said this man is your uncle?”

“Yup!” Jade said happily. She slowly reached over towards Nepeta’s mound of chocolate cake pops as she spoke, but her hand was swatted away. “Gotta love Mr. Crocker, right?”

Nepeta shifted the stick poking out of her mouth to the side. “Does he accept ordews of ower fiwe hunred items? Cause I think I need a lifetime subbly of these.”

“Nepeta, do not talk with your mouth full,” Kanaya said with a sigh. “None of us want to see what you are eating.”

Nepeta pressed a hand to her stomach. “Oof. I wanna eat more, but I think I’ll explode. Is there any way I can save these?”

“Just go up and ask him for a bag.” Jade pointed to the counter. Nepeta began scooping up her pile of cake pops and carried them over.

Kanaya folded her cupcake wrapper into a neat triangle. “Shall we head back to your house, Jade?”

Jade groaned. “I dunno. I might need to sleep all this off. Is that okay with you?”

“That is quite all right. I need to finish a packet for history, so we may as well split off.”

Nepeta returned with a small paper bag. “What are we gonna do next?”

“I’m afraid to say that this is where we part ways,” said Rose, giving her wrapper to Kanaya, who folded it up and deposited it into the trash with her own. Nepeta looked crestfallen.

“Aww… Okay. I’ll see you guys around, then?”

“Of course.” Rose gave Nepeta a quick hug, scooting out of the booth so Kanaya could get out. “I’ll see you on Monday, probably sooner.”

Kanaya moved down and out of the seat, frowning in mock offense. “What, am I not enough entertainment for you?” 

Rose rolled her eyes. “Of course you are. But keeping friends around gives you more to do, am I correct? There are only so many times you can watch Complacency of the Learned before Smarny’s chin begins to grow on your nerves.”

“I can think of other ways to entertain you,” Kanaya huffed, then froze. Nepeta burst into a fit of giggles. Jade shoved her, but she was also clearly fighting to keep a straight face.

“Oh, yes. Very mature of you,” Kanaya said, her cheeks flushing scarlet. Nepeta pointed to her blush, her laughter turning silent, and Kanaya shoved her away. “Oh, enough! Go on! Get away!”

“I’ll leave you to your entertainment,” Nepeta snickered, waving to Rose as she headed out the door. 

Rose watched her leave with idle curiosity.

“What was all that about?”

“Nothing, it was nothing,” Jade said quickly. “I’ll see you guys around!” She hurried out after Nepeta.

Rose brushed her bangs away from her eyes, watching through the window as Jade caught up with Nepeta and they began laughing together. “Well… That was certainly odd. Kanaya?”

When Rose turned, Kanaya’s blush was nothing if even more pronounced. Her voice was slightly higher than normal when she spoke. “They were just joking around. Would you like to leave now?”

Rose ignored Kanaya’s blatant lies, instead holding the door open for her. “Back to my place it is, then.”

“Oh, um…” Kanaya hesitated. “Can we make a stop at my house before we move on?”

“We can do whatever you would like, Kanaya,” Rose said with a smile as Kanaya passed through the door. Her blush was beginning to fade. It was, Rose noticed, quite adorable. 

“Thank you. Do you remember the way to my transport pad?”

Rose wouldn’t have expected it of herself, but she found that she did. She pointed in the direction of the pad, her eyes asking if she was correct, and Kanaya nodded. They set off towards it.

“Rose, I know you expressed clearly that you do not wish any celebrations to be made of your birthday,” Kanaya said timidly. “But I do have a gift for you, and I believe it would be a waste not to give it.”

“You do?” Rose said in surprise. “But you just found out it was my birthday this afternoon.”

“Well, it is getting closer to Christmas time... I made it in advance.” Kanaya ran an embarrassed hand through her hair. “But I think it would make a better birthday present. I can easily create something new for the holiday.”

Rose let her fingers lightly brush against Kanaya’s shoulder. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“You don’t mind?”

“I am not fully opposed to the idea of birthday celebrations,” Rose admitted. “In truth, I simply didn’t want those two getting overexcited.”

Kanaya laughed. “Yes, I can see why.” The transport pad was just ahead. Rose made to step onto it, and as she did so, Kanaya reached out as if to grasp Rose’s hand. She let go as soon as their fingers touched. Before Rose could make any surprised remarks, they were teleported away. When they reappeared, Kanaya’s blush had returned. She made no mention of her curious action, so Rose decided to ignore it.

Rose’s eyes swept over the yard as she walked towards Kanaya’s house, taking in the grandeur of the building and surrounding area. “It’s still a bit difficult to believe that you designed this place.”

Kanaya laughed quietly. Rose raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Oh, you’ll see.” She led Rose to the winding flight of stairs and up to her bedroom. With the turning of a knob and a push to the door, Kanaya invited Rose in. 

She made for the wardrobe Rose had first seen on their mission to find snacks. It sat in the corner of the room, large, and, by Kanaya’s standards, unusually ordinary. Kanaya swung the doors open. 

The interior was not so ordinary.

Instead of clothes, a large screen took up most of the space. Kanaya smiled at Rose’s curious expression. “This,” she announced, “is a wardrobifier. I enter my clothing designs into it and it makes them for me when I am not up to the sewing they would require.”

Rose examined the screen. There were several boxes, “Create New Design,” “Previous Designs,” and “Wardrobe.” Kanaya leaned over and pressed a finger to the box marked “Previous Designs.”

The first to pop up was an ankle-length dress of orange and yellow. It was titled “Gift For Rose.”

Rose grabbed onto Kanaya’s arm. “Is that…?” She didn’t need to finish the question.

“Yes. I designed it for you. All I need now are some measurements, and then the wardrobifier will make it real.” Kanaya pulled out a roll of measuring tape from her bedside drawer. “Would you do the honors?”

Rose took the tape. “I would be delighted. What measurements are needed?”

Kanaya consulted her notes. “I need neck-to-shoulder length, neck circumference, top shoulder seam length, bottom… Maybe I should just take these myself. Oh, except for the waist and bust measurements, you can do those.”

“Yes, aside from those, you can take what you need.” Rose wrapped the tape around her middle and read off the number to Kanaya, who typed it in. After doing the same for her chest, she handed over the measuring tape once more.

Kanaya lifted Rose’s arm and guided the tape from the center of her neck down to her wrist. Her fingers brushed gently across Rose’s skin, and she felt her heart flutter. It must have been how exposed she was. Kanaya could choose to wrap her fingers around Rose’s neck and squeeze until there was no breath left, but instead, she only touched. That must have been the reason she felt so nervous.

“Hold this in place, please?”

Rose obediently held the tape to her arm as Kanaya typed in another set of numbers. “I am sorry for this inconvenience, but I believe it will be worthwhile once you see the completed garment.”

“I already see it as worthwhile. It’s a pleasure to be graced with one of your designs, even if I can’t yet wear it.”

“You are too kind.” Kanaya shifted the measuring tape from the top of Rose’s arm to the bottom. “If you would hold up your arm?”

Rose held her arm away from her side so Kanaya could reach beneath it. As her soft hands grazed Rose’s wrists, she felt the same odd fluttering sensation. It was the vulnerability, she reminded herself. Just the vulnerability. 

Kanaya continued taking the measurements necessary for Rose’s outfit, Rose growing less sure of herself by the minute. She didn’t want to interrupt Kanaya’s progress, especially for such a thoughtful gift, but the position she was in was making her feel less than stable. Every time Kanaya pressed the measuring tape to Rose’s skin, it took effort to conceal her reaction to the tingle it caused. It was a physical relief when Kanaya finally straightened and pronounced her work finished. 

“So, what happens now?”

Kanaya shifted to the side so Rose could see the screen around her All the entry fields for measurements had been filled in, and a green button labeled “create” glowed in the left corner. Kanaya pushed it. 

Strange sounds began to come from the wardrobifier. There was a quiet rumble, then a noise Rose recognized to come from an unseen set of scissors. A sewing machine beat an invisible rhythm behind the wardrobe’s walls, stitching together Kanaya’s ingenuity. 

The noise stopped abruptly, and a tray popped out from the side of the wardrobe. Kanaya stepped over to it, and, into her hands fell a brand-new dress. 

She handed it to Rose for inspection. 

Somehow, being able to hold the creation in her hands made it all the more special. Rose stroked the soft fabric, running her hands along the curved seams and embroidered designs. The collar was made of delicate orange lace, a shade darker than the main body. A pair of yellow swirls accentuated the waist, and a yellow symbol was featured prominently on the chest. 

“Kanaya, this is incredible.” Rose let the fabric fall into its proper shape and held it up in front of her chest. She hadn’t even tried it on, but she knew it would fit perfectly. It would reach down to her ankles, but not brush the floor. As it hung, she noticed a pair of slits in the side.

“It is no such thing,” Kanaya said, but she sounded pleased with Rose’s praise. “I mean, yes, it is nice. But you do not need to thank me.”

“I was under the impression that thanks are appropriate when being given a custom-made dress from your best friend. Was I mistaken?” Rose wrapped the fabric around her arm. “Really. Thank you, Kanaya.”

“Would you like to try it on?” Kanaya said hopefully. 

Rose smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Kanaya pointed to the walk-in closet. “I would hate to make you walk down the stairs to the bathroom, so you can change in there.”

Rose shut the closet door, leaving it the tiniest bit open so as to avoid locking herself inside. She slipped off her shirt and skirt, pulling the dress on over her head. It slid smoothly down and settled around her form. Just as she had predicted, it fit perfectly. 

She pushed the closet door open.

Kanaya put a hand to her mouth to cover her smile. Rose turned in a slow circle, marveling at the garment’s flexibility and grace. 

“You know, I never would have thought orange to be my color.”

“Sometimes, with fashion, it is best to do the unexpected. It just needs... ” Kanaya pulled out something from behind her back. It was a yellow headband. “The finishing touch.” She tucked it neatly into Rose’s hair, taking care not to poke her as she did so. 

“Rose, you look stunning.” 

“I suppose I can’t wear this as we head home, or I’ll attract onlookers,” Rose said regretfully.

Kanaya sighed. “If you insist.”

“Don’t look so distressed. I’ll probably put it back on the second we arrive home.” Kanaya’s smile returned. 

“Oh, all right, then.”

***

Kanaya handed the tablet to Rose. “And this one here is mine.”

“Wow.” Rose zoomed in on the photo. The dress it showed was black and billowy, in contrast with Rose’s narrow, bright design, but it was equally as elegant. Rose pointed to the symbol on the chest. “What is this? It looks just like mine.”

“I used aspects as inspiration for this series,” Kanaya explained. “Yours is Light, mine is Space. If you look through you will see more.”

Aspects. That concept which had haunted Rose’s life, and Kanaya had turned it into something beautiful.

Rose swiped to the side, touring through the designs Kanaya had stored in her library. Some were finished projects, with real-life photos, such as the crimson ensemble Kanaya said represented Time. Others were sketches or animations, projections of ideas yet to be turned to reality. She swiped again, and was surprised to see a picture of Nepeta. She was wearing a frilly pink dress with a heart on the chest.

Kanaya saw her looking. “Nepeta’s birthday was earlier this year, so I gave that one to her. I am trying to find someone for each aspect to give an outfit to. If I kept all my ideas to myself I would have no room left in my house.”

“How many have you made so far?”

“I have made six. Light, for you, Space for me, Heart for Nepeta, as well as Life, Time, and Breath. I am thinking I will give the Time dress to Aradia, and the Life to Feferi. The Breath design I made was meant for Tavros… However, I do not know if he will wear it if I give it to him.”

“Tavros from orchestra? He would be ridiculous not to.” Rose swiped to the side again. The next design was more intricate than the others, covered in green patterns. The woman Kanaya had sketched wearing it was uncomfortably familiar.

“Is… this your mother?” Rose said tentatively. Kanaya’s face softened.

“Yes. I have been planning that outfit for quite some time now, but I cannot seem to get it right. I want it to be perfect.”

“Is there any special occasion it is meant for?”

Kanaya smiled, but it wasn’t a happy expression. Her eyes were filled with a sadness Rose could not understand. “There is a long story behind it… One of my mother’s friends used to tell stories to me and-- to me, about my mother as a great hero. I am attempting to recreate her signature apparel.”

“I have no doubt that she was a truly magnificent hero.” Rose’s voice did not betray the sinking feeling that dragged her heart into her stomach. Kanaya didn’t deserve any of this. She was a sweet girl, wishing only to make others happy, and Rose had gone and killed her dearest family member. 

What kind of person did that make her?

She had always known she wasn’t good, but she had never felt so _bad_ about it.

Kanaya still looked sad, and, on impulse, Rose reached out and took her hand. She ignored how her heart lost its rhythm to begin a new, faster one. The only thing she thought of was making that sadness go away.

“Kanaya, everything is going to be all right.”

And with these words, all the other thoughts came flooding right back. The feelings, the fear and doubt and anticipation. How long would it be before Kanaya would be dead? How would she manage to do it? Would she? Would she be killed if she didn’t?

“I am very lucky to have a friend like you, Rose,” Kanaya murmured.

Rose pushed the swirl of emotion back down. She wouldn’t need to deal with it until later. 

For now, she comforted herself by holding onto Kanaya’s hand and not letting go. It almost made her feel safe. 

“I would say that I am the lucky one here,” she whispered.

“Perhaps we can share the luck.”

Rose nodded slightly. “Perhaps we can.” 

Rose and Kanaya sat with their fingers entwined, letting the silence absorb all of the words they could not say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, what's that noise in the distance?
> 
> *CHOO CHOO*
> 
> HERE COMES THE GAY TRAIN FOLKS, FASTEN YER SEATBELTS WE'RE GOIN FULL SPEED AHEAD


	11. Lipstick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gay train has arrived at the station.

Rose blinked sleepily. 

“Yes… No! I cannot be sure, Jade, I do not want to risk… Yes, I know. That does not change anything… There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for that... Not necessarily.”

Rose rolled over and checked her alarm. It was 5:15. What was Kanaya doing awake? And who would she be on the phone with at five in the morning?

The previous night, she had heard Kanaya toss and turn late into the night, but had fallen asleep to soon to tell how late her friend had stayed up. She wondered if Kanaya had been awake all this time or if she had woken recently. 

Kanaya’s voice was a quiet murmur through the wall. “You would not understand. You have never done something like this.”

Rose didn’t want to eavesdrop, but her curiosity was piqued. She flipped her blankets away and carefully tiptoed to the bedroom door. It was open a crack, enough for Rose to look out and see Kanaya. She was holding her cell phone to her ear, pacing across the living room floor. She was obviously trying to keep quiet, but not doing a very good job of it.

“I do not think she has yet caught on. And if she had, it would be no fault of mine! You and Nepeta are the ones who keep acting like… No. Jade, _no!_ You are the only person whom I could talk to about this, please do not make me regret my decision.” Rose could faintly hear someone respond on the other line.

Kanaya groaned. “I feel like it is too soon. I am _staying_ with her, do you not think it would make things a little awkward if she says no?” 

Rose watched as Kanaya’s face turned bright red at whatever Jade’s reply had been. “No, no! That is not my intention at all! Stop it, I am going to end up waking her if you say things like that.”

Rose debated with herself on whether or not to make her presence known. It sounded as if whatever conversation Kanaya was having was about her, and interrupting might create unnecessary tension. But if she did, she might be able to figure it what it was they were discussing. 

Kanaya frowned. “All right. We will see what happens.” Rose saw her set the phone down and head back to the bedroom. She dived back into her bed and pulled the covers over her, slowing her breathing to a rate that could pass for someone asleep. 

Kanaya pushed the bedroom door quietly open. She paused for a long moment, and Rose fought not to open her eyes and peek at whatever her expression may have been. Finally, Kanaya sighed, and Rose heard her hit the mattress. Her breathing took a long time to slow, and even then, Rose couldn’t be sure she was really asleep. After all, her own breathing was similar, and she was wide awake.

She turned over to face Kanaya. The girl’s eyes were closed, and her face was peaceful. The blankets were drawn up around her chin as she rested. 

“Kanaya?” Rose whispered. 

Kanaya’s eye twitched, and her even breathing faltered. So she hadn’t been asleep after all.

“Kanaya, what was that about?”

Kanaya opened her eyes and sighed again, staring at the ceiling. “So you did hear.”

“Yes, but not much. You sounded upset. Was that Jade on the phone with you?”

Kanaya nodded, still not looking at Rose. “Please do not trouble yourself. It was nothing of great importance.”

It appeared that Rose was not the only liar in the house. “Kanaya, you know that if something is wrong, you can talk to me about it, right?”

Kanaya turned away. “Yes. I apologize. I should not have let you hear that.”

“Should I pretend to have heard nothing?”

“That would be preferable.”

“All right. I won’t pry, even though my curiousity has been more than piqued.” Rose yawned. “I’m going to sleep. Good night, Kanaya.”

“Good night, Rose.”

***

Rose woke up a few hours later, and, like before, Kanaya was gone. She padded into the kitchen to find her friend sipping a mug of coffee. There were dark circles under her eyes, and it took her a moment to notice Rose. 

She startled. “Oh! Rose. Good morning, would you like some coffee?”

Rose shook her head. “I’ve heard it is an acquired taste, but I haven’t come to enjoy it quite yet.” She pulled out a chair and sat down next to Kanaya. 

“So.”

Kanaya coughed. “Yes.”

“Are we going to talk about this morning’s incident?”

Kanaya smiled ruefully. “I had hoped you had forgotten.”

“I most certainly did not. How could I, when you were so clearly speaking of me behind my back?” Kanaya winced.

“Oh, Rose, do not think of it that way. I assure you nothing detrimental was being discussed.”

“That isn’t what I was thinking.” Rose rested her hand on the tabletop. “I was more worried that you had a problem you weren’t comfortable sharing with me. I consider you my closest friend, and I had hoped you thought of me the same way, but I suppose it is reasonable for you not to reciprocate, given we have only known each other a few months. I was simply wondering what your reason was for not confiding in me.”

Kanaya shook her head. “No, that is not right either. I am sorry, I just…” She looked away. “I cannot tell you. Not yet.”

Rose’s disappointment, less fake than she would have liked to believe, clearly showed, as Kanaya winced again. “I am sorry, Rose.”

“It’s quite all right. I’m sorry for eavesdropping.”

Kanaya stood up and pushed her chair in, setting her empty mug next to the sink. “Do not apologize. This is not your fault, do you understand? There is no fault. Nothing is wrong. I am simply being difficult.” She hesitated. “My being difficult was the reason that conversation began.”

She seemed to fight with herself for a moment. Then she rubbed her eyes and groaned. “All right. All right, I am going to tell you. Just… give me a moment?” Rose nodded.

“Take as long as you need. Are you sure you are comfortable sharing this with me?” 

“No.” Kanaya smiled bravely. “But I doubt that I will ever be, and sharing is the only way I can overcome it.” She retreated to the bathroom without another word. Rose heard the shower being turned on, the quiet rush of water providing a background noise for her thoughts. 

What was it that had Kanaya so bothered?

Rose swallowed. There was a thick lump in her throat she couldn’t seem to be rid of. Had she figured out where Rose had come from? Even worse, had she figured out what had happened to her mother?

No, she couldn’t have. She would be beyond upset if she knew her beloved mother was dead; she would be distraught.

Thinking this did nothing to improve Rose’s mood. 

Something more than the sound of water broke through Rose’s worrying. It was Kanaya’s voice. It was barely audible over the noise of the shower, but it was there, quietly singing a wordless melody. Rose smiled in spite of herself.

It was a beautiful sound, and Rose listened contentedly until the water shut off. When Kanaya headed back towards the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, Rose called out to her. 

“Your singing is lovely.”

Kanaya’s hand jumped to her hair, tucking a dripping lock behind her ear. “Oh, you, um, heard that?” She was blushing. “I apologize for putting you through such a thing, singing is not exactly my strongest point, I--”

Rose interrupted. “I assure you it was lovely. Anyway, carry on.”

Kanaya nodded awkwardly and hitched up her towel, disappearing into the bedroom. When she came back out, she was fully clothed in her usual pretty black shirt and red skirt. The tips of her short hair had dried, but the rest was still wet, judging by the ring of water around the neck of her shirt. 

She cleared her throat. “So, um.” She paused, smiling nervously. “Oh, dear. I never imagined saying this so early in the morning. I never really imagined… actually saying it.”

Rose waited patiently.

“Well, you see… I am so sorry if I have misinterpreted you,” Kanaya said quickly. “But, um, judging by some of our previous interactions, and many of the signals I seem to be receiving from you, which may have been unintentional, um…” She coughed. “Anyway. I have something I need to say to you.”

“That much is plain to see,” Rose said, amused. 

Kanaya took a shaky breath. “Rose, I…” She twisted the hem of her shirt. “... Oh, no, I feel too weird saying this here. Can we go somewhere, out of the house?”

“Of course.” Rose pushed in her chair. “Where shall we head?”

Kanaya smiled. “I have an idea.” Rose held up a finger.

“One moment, please.”

She had recently taken to bringing extra protection whenever she left the house. She always had a knife strapped to her thigh, concealed beneath her skirt, but now, she had to make her weapon even more lethal. She headed back to the bedroom, reaching beneath her bed for a small container she had brought from the facility. 

Rose slid out her knife and unscrewed the container’s lid, taking care not to spill what was inside. If she got a single drop of the innocently clear liquid on her skin, it would burn right through. She would be dead in minutes. 

Perhaps it was a little drastic, but she never knew who she could be up against. If she had to fight someone much more skilled than herself, it would pay off to have a secret and deadly advantage. She should probably run through her list of battle strategies soon as well. Act weak until the time is right to strike, aim for the solar plexus and throat, push up on the chin or hit with the elbow...

She dipped her knife into the poison, painting each side of the blade with a thick layer. It took a few seconds to dry, and when it did, the clear coat of venom was completely invisible. Unless you knew it was there, it would be undetectable. She resheathed it with great caution. 

Before she went back out to meet Kanaya, she threw on a fresh coat of lipstick. This way, her time spent in the room would be less suspicious. 

Rose rejoined Kanaya by the door, making sure Kanaya noticed her makeup when she smiled. “Lead on.”

Kanaya guided Rose out the door and down the street, to the same transport pad Rose used to get to school. They kept along the same route, and in time, Rose realized that they were indeed headed towards the Academy.

“Kanaya, why are we going to school?” she asked curiously. “It surely won’t be open on a weekend?”

“We are not going inside.” Kanaya swung open the gate. “Our destination is merely nearby.”

Rose followed as Kanaya led her around the side of the building. They headed into the woods that flanked it, walking slowly through the trees. All the autumn leaves that had adorned the trees when Rose began her stay at the Academy had fallen. The barren branches stuck out into the air, as ghostly fingers pointing up to the overcast sky. They arched over Rose and Kanaya’s heads as they made their way deeper into the wood.

As the trees passed, Rose began to recognize their route. She had taken it once, but she had been alone then, and soaked with rain. Her prediction was confirmed when the trees opened into a clearing, with a small white gazebo set in the center.

Kanaya turned. “What do you think?” she said shyly. 

A smile slowly spread across Rose’s face. “I must admit it to you. I have actually been here once before.”

Kanaya’s face fell. “Oh, no, I thought I had come up with a nice surprise!”

“It is still a nice surprise,” Rose said gently. “It was a wonderful idea to come here. Would you like to sit down?” Kanaya nodded. She and Rose took seats across from her in the miniature gazebo.

“Well…” Kanaya drummed her fingers on the bench beside her. “I suppose I cannot delay any longer.” She moved her hand as if to reach for Rose’s, then drew back, hesitating. Rose then extended her own hand, pulling Kanaya’s back into the open. Her heartbeat, as usual, increased pace at the contact. She did not try to stop it. It was clear by now that there was no stopping her reactions to Kanaya, even if their cause was unknown. The girl was simply electrifying. 

Kanaya flushed. “This is difficult. I just want to speak my mind, oh, Rose, I want to so badly. But it is so _embarrassing._ ”

“I promise I will not think of you differently, whatever your revelation may be.”

Kanaya grimaced. She was the picture of tension, biting her lip and gripping Rose’s hand tightly. “If you did not think of me differently afterwards, I would be disappointed.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “What ever do you mean?”

Kanaya swallowed. She seemed to be gathering her courage. “Rose. you are a very dear friend to me. Ever since we met, I have felt drawn to you, and you seem to feel the same way. We make a good pair, I think. But I…”

She finished her sentence in one burst of speech. “Rose, I think I would like it better if we were more than just friends!” 

Rose’s eyes widened. This was something she had never expected. An unseen advantage, presenting itself to her with no effort on her part! If Kanaya was really so enamored with her, she could get close to her with no problem, draw information out of her, and… 

Rose stopped thinking. All those feelings which had held her back finally made sense. She understood now. 

She just didn’t want to. 

She didn’t want to do any of it.

Kanaya was too good a person to be taken advantage of any more, and Rose, against her will, had grown too fond of her to do such a thing. It was why she felt so different around her other friends than around Kanaya, why Kanaya’s touch made her feel so strange, why she didn’t want to kill her or use her or do anything to harm her, why she couldn’t and _wouldn’t_.

She _really, really liked_ Kanaya.

Kanaya’s expression shifting from merely tense to horrified. The bright color of her cheeks drained in an instant. “Oh, my gosh. I am so sorry. I did not mean to ruin anything we had, I just thought it would be better if you knew. Please forgive me.” She drew her hand back, but Rose held on.

She looked Kanaya steadily in the eyes. “Kanaya, do not be so quick to doubt. You in no way misinterpreted my actions. Frankly, I think you made a better job of interpreting them than myself.”

It took a moment for Kanaya to realize her meaning. Her lips curved into a tentative smile. “Are you saying that… you would like that too? If we were...”

Rose squeezed her hand gently. “I would like it very much if we were more than friends.”

Kanaya’s smile turned to a glow. “We are in agreement, then.” She was quiet for a moment, then laughed. 

“So… You do not mind that I have told you this, considering I am currently living with you?”

Rose joined her in laughter. “No, I don’t. It shouldn’t be a problem. We can continue the way we have, just… a little differently.”

Kanaya bit her lip to keep herself from smiling even more widely. “Should we, um… Go get something to eat?”

“Absolutely. I’m starved.”

Kanaya didn’t let go of Rose’s hand as they headed out of the clearing and back into the world. 

Rose didn’t know what this meant for her, but she did know one thing. Kanaya’s hand in hers felt more right than anything else in her life had. For the first time, she felt as if everything would work out. It had to. 

She wouldn’t let anything take Kanaya from her.

***

“That little _whore!_ ”

Vriska’s voice was filled with delight. “Who knew our lovely Rose would go above and beyond her role as a honeypot? This is amaaaaaaaazing.” She opened her interface and composed a quick message to Terezi.

_Oh my God so I’m spying on Rose and she just got asked out by her target._

_WH4T??_

Vriska sighed at her friend’s method of typing and began to explain the situation.

_I’ve been here a couple days and they’re, like, never apart. Kanaya has the most obvious crush on Rose, it’s really pathetic. I wouldn’t think anything of it because obviously Rose should just be collecting information, but they seem like they’re actually bonding????????_

_Kanaya just admitted to Rose how she felt and she_ actually reciprocated. _Again, I would think she was just pretending, but she’s acting_ so _dumb. All love-struck and stuff. I don’t know what the hell she thinks she’s doing, she’ll end up dead before too long if she tries consorting with the enemy like this._

_4R3 YOU GO1NG TO T3LL SCR4TCH?_

Vriska would be lying if she said she hadn’t considered it. But telling immediately would make her a snitch, and she was no snitch. She would tell if it became necessary. Now, maybe Rose could be helped along with just a bit of friendly persuasion.

_Nah, not yet. I’m going to talk to her and see how it goes._

_YOU’R3 GO1NG TO H3LP H3R? TH4T’S UNL1K3 YOU._

Vriska scowled. _I’m not_ helping. _I’d be soooooooo happy if she got herself killed, believe me. But she’s just so helpless, y’know? It pisses me off just watching her muddle around._

_W4SN’T YOUR PL4N TO K1LL H3R, THOUGH?_ Vriska knew that back in the facility, Terezi would be making that face she made whenever she was confused, her lips curled oddly to the side and brow furrowed. 

_I’m still going to, just later on. Has she made my life difficult as all fuck? Yes. But am I going to get myself in trouble by killing her before her mission is complete? Hell no. I’m not stupid. If she doesn’t cooperate, I’ll kill her right then and I guess I’ll find some way to play it off. But if she does, I’ll wait until Kanaya’s dead and_ then _take care of Rose._

_OK4Y, TH4T M4K3S MOR3 S3NS3 1 GU3SS. C4N YOU HURRY 1T UP THOUGH? 1T’S SO BOR1NG H3R3 W1THOUT YOU >:[_

_Don’t be a pissbaby. Go fight a simulator or something, I’ll be back in a few days._

Terezi didn’t respond, so Vriska closed her interface. She was still sitting, hidden, in the trees beyond the gazebo. She sat up and dusted herself off. She had a job to do. All she had to do was get Rose alone. She and Kanaya had been off doing whatever newly-romantic teenagers did for long enough, Vriska thought she could manage it. 

When Rose’s friends had been nearby, Vriska had collected their ID numbers. Now she could use them for her own devices.

She entered Jade’s ID into her upgrade, gaining access to her profile. Anything she posted would register as if it had been posted by Jade herself. 

She sent out a message to Kanaya.

_Kanaya! You never told me what happened, did you confess to Rose yet??_

It took Kanaya a minute to respond. Vriska supposed it must be slower, having to type each tiny letter out with your fingers. How did people in the age of cell phones ever manage?

_Yes, I Did, And Your Advice Proved Sound. She Feels The Same Way. We Have Just Finished Having Breakfast Together And We Are Heading Back To Her Apartment, Please Do Not Bother Us._

_No way! You’ve had your date, now come over and tell me everything. Don’t bring Rose!! I want you being totally candid._

_Are You Sure You Cannot Wait? It Would Be Rude For Me To Leave Her Now._

_Just tell her you have to do something!_

_Jade I Am Not Going To Lie To My, Uhm, Girlfriend._

Vriska rolled her eyes. Good people were so annoying. All those morals getting in the way. She decided to give Kanaya a little incentive.

_If you don’t come over and give me all the juicy details I am going to tell Rose all the embarrassing things you said about her when you thought your crush was hopeless >:)_

The reply came much faster this time.

_No No No Do Not Do That Jade_

_Okay Fine I Am Coming Over But You Owe Rose An Apology._

Vriska smiled, satisfied. That was one obstacle out of the way. She would have to work quickly before Kanaya realized Jade hadn’t invited her over at all.

Luckily, transport pads were very fast, and she was at Rose’s door within minutes. 

Vriska didn’t bother knocking, opting instead to push open the door and stride in without warning. She was a bit disappointed to see that Rose wasn’t in the living room or kitchen, and therefore had missed her dramatic entrance. She could hear footsteps from the bedroom, and frowned. How dare Rose waste her time in there when she could be in shock and surprise at Vriska’s sudden presence.

She sat down at the kitchen table. If she couldn’t make a dramatic entrance, she would simply make a dramatic reveal. 

After a while, Rose opened the bedroom door, carrying a towel. She walked past the living room and into the kitchen. 

She dropped the towel.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Her voice was horror-struck, her eyes like two saucers. 

“Can’t an old friend pay a visit? Jeez.” Vriska frowned, crossing her legs. “Be a good hostess and give me a proper welcome, won’t you?”

Rose picked up her towel, her every motion wary. “First, tell me what your business here is.”

Vriska smiled sweetly. “Just so you know, we can avoid this...”

“But my main reason for being here is that I want you dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, cliffhangers.


	12. Light

“Don’t look so tense. I told you we can avoid it,” Vriska said, rolling her eyes. “Why don’t you sit down?” She pointed at the chair opposite her. It was not a request.

Rose went to the door and locked it before taking a cautious seat across from Vriska. “Are you going to try and kill me?”

“Only if you don’t cooperate.” Vriska settled back into her chair. “You see, you’re being a real pain in the ass about this whole mission. But I’m sure you know that already.”

“I wouldn’t use that exact phrasing, but I am aware that things have not gone according to plan,” Rose said slowly. 

“Yes! Because you’ve gone and fallen for Kanaya.” Vriska smirked. “Don’t try and deny it, it’s obvious to anyone who’s looking. More specifically, it’s obvious to everyone working in the facility.”

“Did they send you to take care of me, then?”

“No. I chose to come here.” Vriska smiled smugly at the curious expression on Rose’s face, knowing she had gotten the girl’s attention. “It was driving me crazy knowing that not only were you being allowed a mission despite your incompetence, but that you were failing in that mission. So I came to give you a little push in the right direction.”

Rose was silent for a minute. “And you consider the right direction to be Kanaya’s death?”

“Obviously.” Vriska raised an eyebrow. “So. Here’s your motivation: kill her, or I kill you.”

Rose’s expression did not change. “I think you know what my answer to that will be. So, I ask you again. Are you going to try and kill me?”

Vriska leaned forward slightly. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke. “My pleasure.” 

Rose paused. Then, in an instant, she was standing. She backed away slowly, not making a retreat, but moving into the open space of the living room. Vriska stood up casually, a long knife seeming to materialize in her hand. 

“You know, I almost feel bad for your little girlfriend. The last thing she’s going to see before I slit her throat is you bleeding out on the floor.”

Rose’s face filled with fury. “Don’t you dare touch her.”

Rose pulled out her smaller knife from her thigh strap just in time to meet Vriska’s in the air. The two blades pressed against each other dangerously close to Rose’s cheek. She snapped her leg out to shove Vriska away, but the girl was too quick to be touched, leaping back and then forward again to slash her knife towards Rose’s throat. 

Rose sidestepped and reached out for Vriska’s leg. She dodged before she could be cut, but Rose had grabbed what she wanted-- a spare knife concealed in a strap around Vriska’s calf. Rose straightened, a weapon now in each hand. Vriska scowled.

“You think you’re clever? You’ve never been good at double-handed fighting.” She feinted to the left before aiming a punch to Rose’s right eye. Rose ducked beneath the punch and countered with a quick jab to her stomach. She didn’t make enough contact to wind Vriska, just enough to warn her. 

Vriska, however, did not step back. As Rose was thrown slightly forward in the wake of her punch, Vriska brought up her shin to meet her body and she was thrown backwards. She winced as she knocked into the wall, but regained her breath quickly. 

“It’s like you’re not even trying. If you’d put up as horrendous a performance as this against me in the facility, I would’ve beat you unconscious,” Vriska taunted. Rose whipped one of her knives at her opponent, and it slipped from her hand, landing with a thunk in the wall across from them. It stayed fast, its point embedded in the wall. 

“Are you kidding?” Vriska threw her hands in the air, leaving herself vulnerable and completely aware of it. “That was an idiot move.” Rose didn’t move, looking at Vriska suspiciously. Vriska brought her arms back down and snickered. “At least you didn’t take that bait.”

Rose suddenly stepped forward, spinning around Vriska so she was the one closer to the wall. Her knife passed behind her back momentarily, and she faced Vriska left-handed. Vriska’s eyes narrowed. 

“What, you think you can pull the I-was-left-handed-all-along trick on me? I grew up with you, dipshit. I know you’re left-handed.” Rose didn’t answer, and Vriska groaned. “God! You’re so weird! Are you not even going to talk at all? Soooooooo boring.”

“I find it to be a waste of breath,” Rose said quietly. “I have better things to focus on than witty banter, don’t you think?” She threw her second knife. It stuck into the wall behind Vriska, who squinted in confusion.

“Are you _trying_ to be a total idiot? That’s both your weapons gone!” She walked backwards, not taking her eyes off Rose. “Acting super weak as a ruse only works for so long. You’ve got to leave yourself a _little_ defense at least. But you’ve got nothing. I’ve studied you for years, trying to figure out how you were good enough to stay alive, and you’ve got _nothing._ No strength, no flair!” She wrenched the knife out of the wall, then lowered her voice to a dangerously sweet tone. “No aspect upgrade.”

Rose surged back towards Vriska, attempting to knock her knife out of her hand. However, when Vriska searched for signs of disturbance in her violet eyes, she found nothing. 

“Oh, come on! I tell you that you’ve been a control subject for your whole life, and you don’t even blink?” She swung a fist at Rose’s head and knocked her to the side. 

“You’re obviously lying,” Rose said, wincing slightly. “Anything to make me lose focus.”

“Well, you’re right about the loss of focus thing. But I’m actually not lying.” 

“Because I should absolutely believe your claims.” Rose reached again for Vriska’s knife, which she held out of reach. She looked at Rose, her arms stretched out in vain, with disgust. 

“I can’t believe you.”

Rose reached higher.

Vriska kneed her in the chest, and she fell to the floor. “What the _hell!_ This is the worst I’ve ever seen you!” She kicked Rose in the stomach. Rose’s didn’t fight back, curling into a ball and taking each blow Vriska dealt her. Blood was beginning to trickle from her nose. 

“Fuck!” Vriska raged. “I fucking _hate_ people like you! Every mission I get, it’s always another weakling. Even the ones I take for myself! I thought for sure you’d put up a fight, for yourself if not for your precious Kanaya. But you’re just like the rest of them!” She kicked Rose straight into the wall. The first knife she had thrown was still stuck in the wall above Vriska’s head. She reached up and pulled it out, dropping it, point-up, onto Rose’s curled-up form. 

“Fight back!”

Rose set the knife on the floor, wiping the blood on her face away. It smeared into a red mess. “I’m not going to fight you, Vriska.”

“Why the fuck not?” Vriska stared down at her rival laying flat on the floor. “Now’s your chance to prove yourself.” She squatted down and grabbed a fistful of Rose’s hair. “I want to kill you. I’m going to _kill you._ Why don’t you get that, moron?”

Rose blinked. She seemed almost bored. “Why don’t you get on with it, then?”

Vriska swung Rose’s head into the wall. “Are you suicidal? Is that what this is? Is that the reason why you’re letting me beat you up so fucking easily?!” Rose’s eyes closed. Her face was beginning to be shadowed with purple and blue.

“You make me _sick_.” Vriska gripped her knife tightly. “All this time I’ve been waiting for a proper fight with you, and I get this shit.” She stood back up and kicked Rose once more. 

“Do you know how much you terrified me as a kid?” She could barely feel her toes anymore from how hard she was kicking. “You were never anything special, but something kept you around. I didn’t know what it was! Scratch said there didn’t have to be two Light kids. What if he decided that whatever secret weapon you had was more important than me?” 

Vriska looked at her fingers. She was holding her knife so tightly, she hadn’t realized she was trembling. It was not out of fear. 

Years of bottled aggression, terror, and rage were washing over her. They burned her skin as waves of acid, making her shake with every violent beating of her heart. All that she had never gotten the chance to feel was coming out in one gigantic explosion. “Why did he even pick you? You _ruined my fucking life!_ ” She found herself screaming as she beat Rose into the wall. 

Suddenly, Rose’s eyes snapped open. Her bloody lips curved into a triumphant smile. 

“Finally.”

Before Vriska could react, Rose was standing, and the knife that had rested in the wall a moment before was in her hands. She swiped at Vriska’s unprotected throat. Vriska jumped back just in time, receiving only a shallow cut. 

“Tricky bitch,” she growled, but there was a hint of satisfaction in her voice. Rose was finally defending herself. “Now the real fight can begin!”

However, Rose retreated to lean back on the wall once she had made her move, pressing a hand to her bruised side. “I think not, Vriska.”

Vriska laughed. “That was a nice one, pretending to not want to fight so I would get angry. But I’m not stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice.” She fell into a fighting stance. “Show me what else you’ve got.”

Rose smiled faintly. The cuts on her lips stretched and bled more freely. “We don’t need to fight anymore.”

Vriska rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I get it. You want to distract me. But I’m ready! Come on, let’s go.”

“You don’t stand a chance against me anymore,” said Rose. She lifted her shirt and began inspecting her fresh bruises.

Vriska bristled. “Come onnnnnnnn. What are you doing? Why don’t you want to fight?”

Rose looked up. “Because.” She raised her eyebrows coolly. “I knew you were a better fighter than me. That’s why I keep a poisoned knife.”

Oh God damn it. 

Vriska pressed a hand to the cut on her neck. Why the hell hadn’t she thought of poison? She hadn’t been thinking clearly in her fury. 

But how had she gotten so angry? After all, she still had her emotion upgrade.

Unless Scratch had taken it out without her knowing. Unless he had seen this coming.

_There doesn’t have to be two._

Pretty soon, he’d have his singular Light-born, just like he’d always wanted. 

All Vriska’s hate and rage seemed to drain away, replaced by numb shock. Oh God, she was going to die. She would be gone in a matter of…

“How much time is there?”

Rose checked her clock. “A few minutes. It’s a fast-acting venom, but, luckily for you, it should be relatively painless.”

Vriska sat down on the floor with a thump. Rose slid down the wall to join her, sighing as she smeared some of the blood out of her eyes. “I could tell something was wrong with your emotion upgrade,” she said. “That’s the only reason I was able to beat you. You never would have acted the way you did if it was functioning properly.”

“Good joke.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say anything humorous.”

“I don’t have an emotion upgrade anymore,” Vriska snapped. “Scratch must’ve drugged me and taken it out or something. By the looks of it, you don’t have one either.” 

Rose exhaled deeply. “That certainly explains a lot… Thank you for telling me. It’s one less thing to worry about.”

“I don’t want your thanks,” Vriska grumbled. “I still hate you. I could’ve beaten you easily if my stupid upgrade wasn’t gone.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“I’m still hoping some other bozo will kill you for me.” Vriska closed her eyes. “Or maybe I’m not… If there’s an afterlife, I don’t want you showing up and fucking with me any more.”

“You cannot set aside a grudge even in the face of death?” Rose sounded as if she were smiling. “How very like you.”

Vriska snorted. “Yeah, whatever.”

A thought occurred to her. “Hey, when you get back to the facility, assuming you don’t wind up killed for dating your target, can you tell Terezi what happened?”

“Of course. I’ll make you sound very heroic.”

“Screw heroic. Make it properly villainous.”

Vriska’s words were beginning to slur, and she could feel her thoughts slowing. “You know you’re going to have to hide my body from her, right?”

“From Terezi?”

“No, shitwits. Kanaya.”

Rose was silent for a moment. “I’ll think of something.”

“I can’t tell you enough how stupid you are,” Vriska mumbled. “Like, really? Having feelings in general is one thing. But having feelings for _someone_... When you’re on the job? Only you would do that, Rose.”

“And only you would run to punish me for it.”

“Probably not only me.” Vriska coughed out a laugh. “Scratch’ll kill you… as soon as you have enough information. You won’t be able to fight him like you fought… me.” 

“I know. But I’ll certainly try my best.”

Vriska opened one eye. It took more strength than she expected, and she fought to keep it open. “I’ve never understood you.” She could feel her words slipping away from her, and held on tight to what she wanted to say. “And… I’m not going to try to. I’m not… going to apologize.”

She looked at her hands. They were beginning to have a bluish tinge. She couldn’t be sure if she was hallucinating the color, or if it was a real side effect. Either way, the poison was quickly doing its job. She had to speak now.

“Whatever I am… I can’t change it. I don’t care if I should… I’m me, above anything else.” She let her eye fall closed. 

“Maybe you hate me. If you do… then we’re even.” Vriska took a deep breath. It didn’t seem to give her enough oxygen as it should have. “But don’t ever presume yourself better than me… Someday, this is all going to bite you in the ass.”

“You can’t change who you are, Rose, and… you can’t hide it. She’s going to find out.”

She registered a dull ache in her bones, but it was difficult to focus on. It was difficult to focus on anything. Everything seemed to be fading, slipping away into insignificance. Where was it all going? She wanted to follow. There was no point in staying in this place. After all, soon it would vanish entirely. And she would vanish along with it.

“You can’t escape who you are.”

She couldn’t feel her breaths anymore.

She couldn’t feel the moment when it all turned to oblivion.

***

Rose watched as Vriska’s breathing slowed. When it ceased, she stood up and headed towards the sink. Every movement she made hurt. She had won the fight in the end, but the cost was pain shooting through her joints as she washed her own blood off her hands. 

There was a quiet knock on the door. 

Oh, fuck. Kanaya was home and there was Vriska’s body lying in the middle of the living room. There was no way Rose could hide it in time. She wiped her face free of blood as best she could before unlocking the door and opening it a tiny bit.

“Kanaya?”

The voice that answered did not belong to Kanaya.

“Sorry, kid, but your hubby I ain’t.” Jack shouldered his way inside, looking around the apartment. His eyes fell on one of Rose’s knives, still cemented into the living room wall. 

Then they reached Vriska’s body. 

“Well, shit,” he said. He sounded… impressed. “I sure didn’t think _that_ ’s how things would go down.” He made his way over to Vriska and prodded her with his foot, then looked up at Rose. “Poison?” Rose nodded.

“Nice.” Jack pulled Vriska’s corpse upright and heaved it onto the table. Rose winced a bit. 

“What, you squeamish?” Jack raised an eyebrow. Rose shook her head. “Okay, then.” He leaned against the table with not a care in the world that there was a dead girl beside him. “Here’s the deal: Scratch wasn’t expecting you to kill her.”

“So, he did know she was here, then. She said she had chosen to come.”

Jack chuckled. “Yeah, well. A lot of the time people make exactly the decisions he predicts. I don’t think he’ll care too much that she’s dead, though... Anyway, I came here to tell you a little somethin’.” He grinned. “You’re bein’ a little slow with this whole mission thing. We wouldn’t want Scratch assumin’ Vriska was right, would we? Wouldn’t want him thinking you were too weak to do it?”

“No. I have everything under control, and you can tell him that.” Rose’s tone was casual as could be, almost overly so. 

“Sure. But just to offer a little incentive, you should know that if you don’t do it soon, you’ll be following this chick.” Jack lifted Vriska’s limp arm and let it drop.

Rose nodded. “I understand.”

She didn’t care about incentive. She wouldn’t be doing anything Scratch wanted.

Jack looked at his clock. “Well, time for me to be off. People to kill, money to get, y’know.” He doffed his hat to Rose and headed out the door. 

Rose turned the sink back on. For a moment, she let the water run, her thoughts rushing and swirling down the drain along with it. She had just killed Vriska. She had _killed Vriska._

She glanced over to the kitchen table, the logical part of her taking over. The body would have to be taken care of. Makeup could hide her bruises. For now, she just needed to wash the blood away. 

And, of course, figure out what she would do when Scratch came calling.

After being bathed in bleach, the living room showed no signs of the bloodshed it had endured. The injuries Rose had sustained were neatly hidden. As for Vriska’s body… That would take a bit more effort to dispose of. Rose hid it in a storage pod until she could properly erase the evidence. 

Kanaya knocked on the door not a moment before Rose finished her cleaning. She let herself in, Jack having left the door unlocked. 

“Rose?” she called. “I am back.”

Rose popped up from beneath the kitchen table. “Hello. I’ve just been doing some cleaning, don’t mind the chemical scent. Did the store have what you wanted?”

Kanaya went to Rose’s side, smiling guiltily. “I must confess, I have led you to believe a falsehood. I did not go to the store. Jade invited me over to hear how this morning had treated me.” She frowned slightly. “It was a little odd… She forced me to come over, then acted as if she had done no such thing. But I told her the results of my confession to you.”

“They were positive, I assume?” 

“Of course.” Rose smiled and slipped off her plastic gloves, tossing them into a wastebin. Once her hand was free, Kanaya took it without hesitation. “I am feeling that we should not spend the rest of our day lazing about. Would you accompany me out on the town?”

“Gladly.” Outside the concealing walls of the apartment, Rose had a small measure of protection over herself and Kanaya. She didn’t think Scratch would be so brash as to attack her in a public place.

From now on, everything she did must be to protect Kanaya. As soon as Scratch realized that she had abandoned her mission, he would send someone after her, and if she was not there, who was to say someone else would not take up the task she had rejected?

Rose pulled Kanaya into her arms. She let out a small noise of surprise and pleasure, and relaxed into the embrace, wrapping her arms in turn around Rose’s waist.

For just a moment, Rose let her fear show. With her face hidden, she it squeeze her eyes shut and pull her lips back into a grimace. But when Kanaya pulled away, it was gone. Rose smiled as if nothing was wrong.

Kanaya would have to find out eventually. Rose couldn’t keep her from the knowledge forever, no matter how she wished she could.

But not here. Not yet. Perhaps it was selfish, but as long as she could, she would stay in Kanaya’s arms. She wouldn’t pretend nothing was wrong, but simply ignore it for a time.

Rose wished ignoring it would do any good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for reading! :3


	13. Life

“What are your thoughts on the Light-born?” Doctor Scratch looked to Jack for an answer. 

Jack ticked off points on his fingers. “First of all, I’m glad there’s only one now. Shit was confusing. Second, you were right. She’s not makin’ any more progress… Y’think it’s time for me to get rid of her?” 

Scratch took a moment before responding. “No, I do not believe so. I have reconsidered her worth. She handled her aspect counterpart very well… She may not be necessary to keep alive, per se, but it would be a waste to throw away an able killer such as herself.”

Jack quirked an eyebrow. “So, it’s back to the original pickup plan? Damn, I was kinda lookin’ forward to some bloodshed.”

“You may still have an opportunity to cause some. If she refuses to accompany you back, you will have the choice of two paths; kill her, or destroy her disloyalty at its source. Either choice will be acceptable.”

“Wait, like, kill the Maryam girl?” Jack looked confused. “I thought you said you wanted her alive.”

“She has always been expandable, and with the change of the situation, even more so. I would have expected you to delight in the opportunity to murder. After all, it has been mere weeks since your last kill. Was Snowman’s death not satisfying enough for you?”

Jack held up his hands in denial. “Hey, no. Don’t get me wrong. The look on her face was so incredible… I’m just wonderin’ why you would change your mind.”

Scratch shrugged. “It is always preferable to have more resources. Why should I throw one such as the Light-born away? A useful resource like her should not be discarded. The Maryam girl is simply collateral damage. Her disappearance can be covered up easily.”

“Okay, I get you.” Jack rose from his chair. “Should I leave now?”

“Yes, that would suit me well. Please report to me when you have secured the girl.”

“You got it.” Jack gave a quick salute before adjusting his hat and exiting Scratch’s office.

***

“Rose… I think we need to talk.” 

Rose had never been in a relationship before, but she knew that the words “we need to talk” could mean nothing good. It left her on edge as she stared at Kanaya, who sat on her bed beside her. “What about?” she asked finally.

“You have been acting a little strange lately,” said Kanaya. She shifted so she was completely facing Rose and asked, “Are you sure that you are happy with our current situation?”

Rose reached for Kanaya’s hand, but she pulled away. “You have seemed very stressed ever since we started, well, dating,” she fretted. “I do not wish to force you into a relationship with me. If you would like to go back to being only friends, then I would not hold it against you.”

Rose shook her head. “No, Kanaya. I very much like being a relationship with you. I’m just…” She sighed. She had to tell Kanaya, but she still didn’t want to. These were two facts which had never changed. How was she supposed to continue as if all was well, when in fact, they were being hunted by a powerful and malevolent organization? But then again, how was she supposed to tell her girlfriend she knew ten ways to kill someone using only her bare hands?

“I’m just worried that I’ll mess something up,” she said instead. “I want this to continue, but I’m also scared that you’ll find out what I’m really like, and you’ll want nothing to do with me because of it.” It was funny how, with context removed, she could make almost any ugly truth sound innocent. 

Kanaya pulled Rose closer to her. “Oh, Rose. You may not like to hear this, but I am certain I already know what you are really like. In fact, it is what I like about you so much.”

“But…” The last thing Rose wanted was for Kanaya to _really_ figure anything out. But she couldn’t make her entire existence a lie. Not anymore. “What if there was something you didn’t know about me? Something bad, that would make you not want me anymore?”

Something strange passed through Kanaya’s eyes at these words. She looked away for a moment, staring beyond space into somewhere Rose could not see. 

“Are you speaking hypothetically?” she said quietly. “Because if you are not, we may not be as different as you believe.”

Rose held very still. Was Kanaya about to reveal precious information? Her mind leapt to Scratch-- if she were still working for him, this would be a very valuable moment. 

But now, she responded as someone worthy of trust.

“What do you mean?”

Kanaya looked back to Rose’s face, regaining her focus. “I have chosen not to talk about this yet… But, if you would like, I will tell you. So you do not have to worry so much.” Rose nodded for her to continue.

“Do you remember what the door to my room looks like?” Kanaya prompted. Rose noded again. “And… how there is a matching door?”

“Yes, I remember.”

Kanaya took a deep breath. “That door belonged… Well, I used to have a sister.”

“What happened to her?” Rose whispered. Of course, she already knew. The sister, Porrim, had been taken and raised alongside Rose. She probably didn’t even remember that Kanaya existed. 

“My mother has never told me,” Kanaya sighed. “Over the years I have come to the conclusion that she must be dead. All I know is that her disappearance had something to do with neurotechnology. That is why my mother is so against it, you see.”

Rose pretended to process the information for a minute, then held up a hand. “Wait, I’m confused. Why would that knowledge make me think of you any differently?”

Kanaya shrugged. “There is a certain element of… menace to it, I guess. I have always had a fear that something similar would happen to me. I wish my mother would explain. She always goes off to her protests and secret meetings, but never tells me why she is leaving.”

“Secret meetings?”

Kanaya grimaced. “Perhaps I should not have said that. Yes, she has secret meetings. There is a group… They call themselves the Union. They are a number of Academy teachers who are united in their rejection of neurotechnology.”

Interesting. “Do you have any idea of what they do?”

“No, none. But anyway, does that make you feel any better?”

Rose grimaced. “My apologies, but it does not. My burden is something far worse. No offense.”

“So you were not speaking hypothetically.” Kanaya looked worried. “Is your so-called burden something that would affect us very badly?”

“Terribly. It’s…” Rose stopped herself. If she told, Kanaya would hate her. 

There would also be the small consequence of her own death. Scratch would surely realize she had rebelled if she gave away everything he had worked so diligently to hide. 

Suddenly, an alert sounded from her interface. She opened it, hoping to distract herself from her conflict. She had a new message from an unfamiliar number.

_Hey, kid. It’s Jack. It’s gettin’ pretty obvious that you ain’t gonna get any more information from her. I’ll be coming to pick you up in a minute._

It was almost like he had known exactly what Rose was thinking. 

Her hand brushed across her thigh, where, beneath her skirt, a knife was strapped. There was no time left. If she and Kanaya were to live, they had to run, and run fast. There would be no hiding from Scratch. Which meant… she had to tell. 

Would Kanaya even let Rose protect her, once she knew? She was still looking at Rose with her innocent eyes, wide with concern for someone she thought she knew. 

Vriska’s words echoed in her ears. _You can’t hide from who you are._

Oh, God. She had to do it.

“You may not think you could ever hate me now, but you will soon learn to. This is an inevitable consequence,” Rose said with difficulty. The corners of her eyes were stinging. “I would like to apologize in advance for everything I am about to tell you. I ask you not to interrupt, please, just let me finish. We don’t have much time.”

Kanaya looked confused, but Rose held a finger to her lips. “Please. And, remember, Kanaya… A thousand times, I am so sorry.”

She took a deep breath, and let the words of all her years flow forth.

“I don’t remember my mother. I don’t remember the first few years of my life. The only thing I have ever known is a place called the facility.

There, I was in a group of six girls. There was also a group of boys, but we didn’t see them often. We were… educated in the art of violence. Strategy. Torture. Murder. Over the years we each received several sets of upgrades. I realize now that it must have been some type of experiment, but for most of my life, training was everything. I thought killing to be my sole purpose.

A few months ago, I received my first mission of assassination. Doctor Scratch was the man in charge, he told me where I was to go. It was a place called Skaia Academy. There I would find a woman and her daughter by the surname of Maryam.”

Rose tried for a sad smile, but the look on Kanaya’s face was too stunned for her to manage it.

“I was not aware of my own surname until I embarked on this assignment, as I am sure was the case for the others, as well. We only knew our first names and those of our companions. A great deal of the time we didn’t even use them-- we were just ID numbers. I am telling you this because of one individual whom I was raised beside… Her name was Porrim.”

Kanaya’s gaze faltered. “Are you--”

“Please, don’t. I assure you that I am telling you nothing but the truth. I am simply telling it to you with no alterations for the first time. This is no joke. Your sister is alive, but I am afraid that she would be a stranger to you, were you ever to reunite.

A few years ago, I received an upgrade that nullified my emotions. It remained until I arrived here, they must have taken it out just before I left. I started to notice that I was feeling again, and at first I thought there was something wrong. But there was not. I feel very strongly for you, in a way that I have never felt before, and not because of that upgrade. It was not my intention… But over these months, I have grown to consider you a true friend.”

Kanaya shook her head. Her mouth was moving slightly, but no sound came out. “This is not funny, Rose.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” The stinging feeling in Rose’s eyes had increased to a burn.

“Are you…” Kanaya swallowed. “Are you honestly trying to tell me that you came here to kill my mother?”

A single drop of water rolled over Rose’s cheek. She touched a hand to it. So this was what it felt like to cry. The eye contact between her and Kanaya was painful.

“No, Kanaya.” She wiped the tear away, her hand blocking Kanaya’s gaze. “I came here to kill you.”

Kanaya laughed. It was an unconvincing sound, humorless and empty. “I do not understand. Why are you telling me all of this? This cannot be true.”

“I am telling you because we need to leave,” Rose said urgently. “I’ve rejected everything Scratch had laid out for me. Kanaya, this means _war_. They’re going to kill the both of us if we don’t leave now and run as fast as we can. I can protect you, but you won’t make it without me.” She reached for Kanaya’s hand. “Come with me. Please.”

Kanaya moved her hand away. “If you came to kill me, then where is my mother?” There was an edge of panic in her voice.

Rose stared blankly. She was lost for words. “Kanaya, I…”

“What did you do to her?” Kanaya stood up and backed away slowly. Rose was reminded painfully of her nightmare. The fearful look in Kanaya’s eyes was just the same. The only thing absent was Scratch’s hand, ready to shove a blade through Rose’s heart. 

“Kanaya, I did not kill her, but I may as well have. I’m sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. But you need to come with me.”

The silence between them was broken by another alert from Rose’s interface. She had a new message from Jack.

_I guess you’ll need some persuasion._

Rose blanched. “Oh, Kanaya, I understand that you hate me but we _need to leave now_ \--”

“I can’t.” Kanaya looked at Rose as if she had never seen her before. “I can’t go with you. I do not know if anything you have told me is true, but I see no reason why you would lie. And if you really are telling the truth…”

There was a quiet knock at the door.

“Don’t answer it,” said Rose, her voice barely audible. “Please don’t answer.”

Kanaya cast a frightened look towards the door. “I do not think I will. But--”

The door burst from its hinges and crashed to the floor. Jack was left standing in the doorway. He stepped over the broken door, flashing his teeth at Rose and Kanaya in a dangerous grin. 

“Hey, kiddies.” He flipped a switchblade out from his sleeve. “Who wants to go first?”

Kanaya stood, frozen in shock, for a split second. Then she bolted for the bedroom. Jack sighed.

“Why do people always gotta make this so damn difficult?”

Rose stood and ran to the bedroom door, which Kanaya had shut tightly. She faced Jack with a determined expression. “You aren’t touching her.”

“Oh, ain’t I?” Jack said, amused. “How do you figure you’re gonna stop me? You took too long doing your job. Seems like you’re gettin’ some ideas of rebellion... And we can’t have that.”

Rose pulled out the knife strapped to her thigh. She had applied a fresh coat of poison to the blade that very morning-- if only she could get close enough to Jack to strike. 

He seemed to read her mind. “Don’t think your little poisoned-knife trick is gonna work on me.”

Rose pressed her back to the door. “Kanaya,” she called inside. “If you’re still there, leave. Go out the window and get as far as you can.”

Jack snorted. “As if she could outrun me.” He walked lazily closer to Rose, her spine stiffening straighter with every step he took. He was mere feet away when he stopped.

“This is what you get for being a little troublemaker.” 

He thrusted his knife towards Rose’s heart, but she blocked with her own weapon. Jack was stronger than her, and she had to press back hard in order to get enough to pressure to leap away without the knife plunging into her chest. She heard the door creak open behind her and had to fight back a groan.

“Kanaya, leave!”

The door quickly shut again. Rose jabbed towards Jack, but there would be no hand-to-hand combat in this fight. When her hand got near, he simply sliced at it. Rose pulled it back just in time. 

Jack was all about knife work, Rose began to realize as the two thrusted and parried. He moved as if the blade were an extension of his own arm. It was clearly his weapon of choice. The only question was, how good was he without it? If she could get it away from him, it might give her enough leverage to win the fight. 

Through the door, Rose heard the window slide open, followed by a thud. She exhaled with relief. 

“You know she won’t get far,” said Jack, blocking a strike from Rose. “Maybe I’ll take you back unharmed if you quit fighting now, but otherwise, you’re dead meat.”

“I’ll take my chances.” Rose backed away so there was a large distance between her and Jack. He didn’t move to close the gap. 

Rose heard sudden footsteps from the door, and before she knew it, Kanaya was running towards her. She must have run around to the front door. Rose waved her back frantically. “Kanaya, no, what do you think you’re--”

“I am helping you!” Kanaya brandished a kitchen knife. Rose would have laughed at how ridiculous she looked if she weren’t so terrified for her safety. 

Kanaya looked sharply at Jack, then gasped. “Rose, look out--”

Jack had taken their moment of distraction to his advantage. She looked back, and the knife was leaving his hands.

Kanaya let out a choked sound and fell to her knees, his knife in her stomach.

Rose was supposed to protect her. Kanaya was supposed to realize the danger she was in, she wasn’t supposed to try and _help_ , she should know that this was over her head!

She wasn’t supposed to be hurt!

Rose scrambled to Kanaya’s side. The girl was frozen, staring at the knife sticking from her stomach. Blood was beginning to ooze from the wound. It wasn’t instantly visible due to the dark color of Kanaya’s shirt, but the wet patch spreading further and further made Rose sick to her stomach. 

“I told you to leave,” she whispered.

“I did not want to leave you alone,” Kanaya mumbled back. “I.. did not want you to get hurt. I suppose I was foolish to think I could make any difference.” She moved to pull the knife out, but Rose stopped her. “Don’t. It’s keeping the blood in for now. If you take it out, you’ll bleed to death.” She pressed her hand to the area around the knife, trying to stop the blood flow. 

One thought flew to the top of her mind. It was incomprehensible to her… “Why would you help me?” she blurted.

Kanaya shrugged, then winced from the pain the movement caused. “I felt like it was the right thing to do.”

Rose had almost forgotten Jack standing in the corner of the room. He coughed loudly. “I hate to interrupt your little moment, but… Actually, I don’t hate it. Quite frankly, I don’t give a shit. Anyway. It’s time for little blondie to leave.” He gave Rose a pointed look. “You’re coming back to the facility with me whether you like it or not.”

Kanaya gasped. “No!” She shoved Rose’s hand away from her wound, struggling to sit upright. “You can’t!”

Jack grabbed Rose roughly by the collar and pulled her upright. “Say goodbye to your girlfriend. This is the last time you’ll ever see her breathing.” He wrapped his arms tightly around Rose’s waist and dragged her slowly backwards, undeterred by her struggling.

Kanaya was the one to speak first. Her words jumbled together as she spoke as fast as she could. “Rose I do not understand anything that is happening but I simply cannot take it to mean that you have no light in your heart.”

Rose grabbed onto the doorframe to prevent being pulled out. Kanaya’s eyes widened, but she did not stop speaking.

“I cannot erase every moment we have spent together, no matter what your past may contain I still can only think of you as my friend and I do not want you to die! I still think of you as someone who I--”

Rose’s fingers slipped. 

_”Kanaya, I’m sorry!”_

***

The cold white walls of Rose’s cell stared blankly at her. 

Jack had dumped her into the small room as soon as they arrived back at the facility. The blindfold she had worn until then sat in the corner, where she had tossed it after ripping it off. It was the only object in the room aside from Rose herself. 

There was nothing to distract her from her thoughts. 

Her mind repeatedly played the image of Kanaya, the knife sticking from her shirt. Over and over she watched the blood leak through the fabric and drip onto the floor. Over and over, she knew it to be her fault.

It seemed like hours before her solitude was interrupted. Perhaps it was. The silence was broken by the clink of metal outside the door, then a swish as it swung open.

Rose squinted. Could the man on the other side be who she thought it was? 

“Mr. Duncan?”

Why was Kanaya’s history teacher here, of all places?

“Well, well, well,” he drawled. “Who do we have here?” His purple-tinted shirt was unmistakable. Even more recognizable were the pair of faint scars running across his face, from cheek to forehead, just a shade lighter than the skin around them.

He stepped back. “I’m letting you out. You coming or not?”

Rose stood, hesitantly exiting the cell. “Why are you here?”

“Teaching ain’t my only job,” he said casually. “What, did you think the doctor was going to send you out with only Jack keeping an eye on you? Who would watch you at school?” He pointed to the transport pad at the end of the hall. “I’ll need you to step onto that.”

Rose eyed it suspiciously. “Where’s it going to take me?”

“Back to your quarters, of course. Your mission’s over.”

“You mean… I’m not being punished?” Rose did not move towards the pad.

“No. Doctor Scratch has decided you’re still useful.” Duncan pointed again. “Besides, now your little friend’s dead, you haven’t got anything to distract you. Get on.”

Rose stepped onto the pad as fast as she could. She didn’t want anyone talking about Kanaya. It would only remind of her of everything. 

She reappeared in the hall before the barrack. The door slid open for her. With a quick glance inside, she could see that it was empty aside from one girl, sitting on the lid of her pod.

“Hello, Terezi.’

Terezi startled and looked up. “Rose, is that you?”

Rose went inside. She took a seat on her own pod, mimicking the other girl’s position. “You seem surprised to see me.” She knew Terezi and Vriska had always been good friends, and she could think of a good reason why Terezi might be surprised. “I assume you were in on Vriska’s plan?”

Terezi was unfazed by the accusation. “Yeah, but I didn’t think she’d be able to go through with it. Looks like I was right. Where is she? She hasn’t responded to any of my messages.”

Rose hesitated. “I am afraid that her plan backfired quite spectacularly.”

Terezi went very still. She took off her glasses, setting them on her pod next to her. Her gaze was piercing as she looked at Rose. “Are you saying you killed her?”

“I… Yes. I am.”

“So she’s really not coming back, then.” Her face hardened. “And why the hell couldn’t you have just injured her enough to make her back off? You really felt the need to _kill her?_ ”

“I didn--”

Terezi went on. “Rose, she was my only real fucking friend here! Did you not think of anything but blood? Yes, she was a frustrating bitch a lot of the time. But she didn’t deserve to get killed on a whim.” Her eyes were like fire.

“No.” Rose went quiet. “She didn’t. But I do believe you are not fully aware of how difficult my situation was. I’m sorry to have had to bring you this news, but you aren’t the only one who has lost someone important to them.”

“Is Kanaya dead?” Terezi asked, surprised Rose. Her voice caught in her throat as she answered.

“Y-yes. I believe so. How did you come to know her name?”

Terezi shrugged, seeming to calm down a little. “Vriska was watching you for a while. I… I’m sorry to hear that, I guess. You guys seemed like you were happy.” She sounded almost… wistful, Rose thought. “God knows it’s been a long time since anybody got the chance to be happy in this place.” Her anger returned when she spoke next. “It’s too bad the only person who made me happy here is dead now.”

Rose didn’t respond. What Terezi said was true; it was a monumental task to feel joy when surrounded by the white walls of the facility. It had been years since Rose had felt truly happy, and Kanaya, all the happiness she had brought, had been a blessing. 

But now she would surely have bled out. Her green eyes, once so full of life, would be dull and dead. No more designs would spring from her imagination and be passed on as gifts to the friends she adored. That voice which had enunciated so clearly was silent now. Everything that made up Kanaya had faded, and Rose didn’t know how she could pretend it had never existed.

“Nothing to distract her.” Duncan was a fool. Scratch was a fool, and anyone else who thought Rose could forget Kanaya was laboring under delusion. She couldn’t forget.

And she couldn’t forgive, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're starting to get into the last few chapters here... I wonder what'll happen? >:3c


	14. Loyal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on, you guys didn't _really_ think I would kill off Kanaya, did you?
> 
> Yeah you probably did because I'm evil sO sorry about that

“Would you please sit down?” Damien said tiredly. “Pacing will do her no good.” 

Dilara froze in place, her foot hovering above the floor. She took a seat next to Damien, but as soon as she sat down, she sprang back up and reinstated her pacing. Her footsteps made a clicking rhythm against the tiled waiting room floor. “I can’t stop. I’m not going to able to relax until they let us in to see her. Oh, Damien, do you think she’ll be all right?”

“Of course. She made it through the surgery fine, all we have to do now is wait. Would you like me to call Enoch? He’s always able to calm you down.”

“No, no. I already told him what happened. I’m sure _everyone_ knows by now.” Dilara grimaced. “Rosa is going to kill me when she hears Kanaya was injured.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Dilara. It wasn’t your fault.” Damien leaned forward. “The only one at fault here is whoever did it. Did she tell you what happened?”

“No. She just showed up at my door, barely standing, with a great big knife sticking out of her. Blood everywhere...” Dilara shuddered. “It’s a wonder I was able to get her here in time. She kept talking about her friend Rose, you know, Rose Lalonde? That was all she’d tell me. ‘Help Rose.’”

Damien looked alarmed. “Should we be checking on her? If she was hurt as badly as Kanaya, by now it may be too late!”

“I asked if anyone else had been hurt, and Kanaya said no. But she just kept saying that Rose needed her help, and that she’d done something wrong… Do you think we _should_ check on her?”

Damien checked his watch. “It might be best to wait. Kanaya’s been in there a long time, and visiting hours start in a few minutes. We can ask her for more details.”

“I’m still worried. Rose escaped from Scratch, after all. Remember what Rosa told us? If he’s come back, then this may be greater than either of us, or the two of them, for that matter.”

“It’ll do you no good to worry. Come on.” Damien patted the chair next to him. “Sit down.” He pulled out his phone and began disentangling a pair of earbuds. “You want to listen? It’s relaxing.” 

Dilara laughed weakly. “I never thought I’d consent to this, I hear enough of it blaring out of your classroom every day… but… sure.” She took an earbud and fitted it into her ear. Damien pressed play, and the soothing tones of a saxophone began to weave through her mind. It was only a few songs before a doctor appeared before them.

“You’ve been waiting for Kanaya Maryam, correct?” he said, consulting his clipboard. 

“Yes! May we go in and see her now?” asked Dilara. The doctor nodded, and she lept up from her seat. She and Damien walked down the hall to a door covered in smiley “get well soon” stickers and pushed the door open. 

Kanaya was in the center of the room, laying on a bed with pillows propping up her back. Her head was turned to gaze out the window. Dilara rushed towards her.

“Kanaya! Oh, I’ve been so worried. Are you all right?”

Kanaya turned with a smile. “Hello, Ms. Dilara. I never got the chance to properly thank you for driving me to the emergency room. Thank you very much.”

Dilara tutted. “Oh, just call me Dilara. You’ve always been too polite for your own good, even when you were a little girl. You don’t need to thank me. You just need to get better!” She pulled up a chair next to Kanaya’s bed, Damien doing the same. He cleared his throat as he sat down.

“Kanaya, can you tell us what happened to you?”

Kanaya’s face grew serious.”Yes. I have been waiting quite a while to tell you, but all these doctors refused to let in any non-familial visitors. To begin… I am sure my mother has told you the tale of my late sister Porrim?”

“Yes,” Dilara said sharply. “Does she have something to do with this?”

“Yes. As it turns out, my friend Rose was kidnapped at a young age, just as Porrim was. They were brought up side by side. In case I am not being clear enough, Porrim is alive and well.” She carefully took in the shocked expressions of her two teachers. “And… I would greatly appreciate if you would finally tell me the entire story. My mother has taken many liberties when it comes to informing me, and taking into account my condition,” she lifted her shirt to reveal her bandaged stomach, “I think I deserve to hear the rest.”

“Yes, you’re quite right.” Dilara hesitated. “But it isn’t a nice story, and I really don’t think it’s my place to tell you… Why don’t you wait until your mother gets back?”

Kanaya’s gaze could cut steel. “My mother is dead. We both have quite a lot to share with one another.”

“Oh, God,” Dilara whispered. She looked to Damien in desperation. “So he really is back, he must be. Ruby warned her it could be a trap. I wish she would have listened!”

“Would someone please tell me what is going on?” Kanaya begged. 

Damien cleared his throat again. “I guess I’ll take up the job. Kanaya… Your sister was taken by a man called Doctor Scratch. He came to me and twelve others who now teach at the Academy, asking if we would give up our kids to be used as test subjects for new upgrades. We all said no, obviously, but he took them anyway. Your sister was among their numbers, as well as my son Rufioh.”

Dilara chimed in. “I’m not sure how much your mother has told you about this, but we all made a union against Scratch and people of his ilk. We’ve been trying to find our children for years. Scratch actually went so far as to kill several of our members, including my love, Sebastian, and one Robin Lalonde, your friend’s mother.”

Kanaya nodded slowly. “Yes. That fits well with what Rose told me.”

“Your mother spoke with Rose,” Dilara said quickly. “She said Rose had escaped Scratch and given her a location where she could find Porrim. Did something go wrong?”

A great sadness entered Kanaya’s eyes. “Yes, that also fits... Rose did not escape. She continued the work which Scratch had given to her.”

“Which is what? What were all those kids used for?”

“They were used to test upgrades, for one. And…” Kanaya paused. “For murder. He made them into miniature assassins. Rose said she was sent here to kill me. She must have lied to my mother to get her out of the way.”

Anger flashed across Dilara’s face, and she half rose from her seat. “Did she do this to you?” she demanded. Kanaya shook her head forcefully.

“No! She tried to protect me. She... “ Kanaya blushed. “We have, um, become very close recently. Apparently, she began to act against orders because of me. Then, out of nowhere, a man came to take her away, and possibly to hurt me as well, and she tried to fight him off. I merely got in his way.”

“The man couldn’t have been Scratch?” Damien said sharply. 

“I do not think so. It was someone else.”

“And she was taken back?”

“Yes.” Kanaya looked to her audience, her eyes pleading. “We need to help her! She was put through such horrible things in her life. She does not deserve to endure any more.”

“Kanaya, she killed your mother!” said Dilara, incredulous. “How can you take her side?”

Kanaya shook her head. “She freely admitted her wrongdoings to me, and expressed great remorse while doing so. No one could fake such a look as hers when she apologized. She only did any of those things because Scratch forced her to, can you not see that? She deserves a second chance!”

“You might think differently once the denial fades,” Dilara warned. “You don’t seem to realize the magnitude of what she did. Your mother is gone, Kanaya. And if she could so willingly kill, it’s likely she has done it before. You’re defending a criminal.” 

Kanaya remained stubborn. “The same can be said for the other children. They will obviously have been forced into the same action. If you condemn one, you condemn them all. Just because they haven’t murdered someone close to you doesn’t mean they have never murdered. I ask you again: give Rose a second chance.” 

Dilara still hesitated, and Kanaya sighed. “If you try to help Rose, there is a good chance you will find the rest of the kidnapped children. You will find whoever it is that you have lost. Is that enough to make you consider it?”

Damien tapped Dilara on the shoulder. “She’s right,” he whispered. “She’s absolutely right. We should tell the others, maybe we can track Scratch down once and for all!”

Dilara seemed to fight with herself a minute before conceding. ”I suppose we should.” She rose fully from her seat. “Thank you, Kanaya. We’ll get to work right away. You take care, all right? Heal quickly.”

“I’ll do my best,” Kanaya said with a relieved smile. 

Damien and Dilara hurried down the hall, Dilara pulling out her cell phone and rapidly typing in a number. “Hugh? Get Djimon, please. Do you know where Marian and Duncan went?” She paused, then groaned. “They always disappear when things get serious! Yes, things are serious. We’re having an emergency meeting. See you at the Academy in ten.”

Beside her, Damien had pulled out his phone and was performing a similar summoning. “I don’t care if she isn’t speaking to you, Morgan, you and Ruby always make up fast. Get Enoch, too. I don’t care. No, Dilara’s contacting them. Where’s Candace? Whatever, she’s never around. See you soon.”

The two briefly met eyes, then looked away, rushing towards the promise of renewed hope.

***

“Why the fuck did you call us up in such a hurry?” Morgan snapped, taking her seat at the end of the table. 

“Please, just wait a minute,” said Dilara. “Not until everyone is here.”

Morgan snorted. “Pyrope’s gonna be late for certain, and everyone else probably will be, too. Come onnnnnnnn, just tell me!”

“I’m going to be _what_? If you’re going to insult me, have the decency to say something accurate.” Ruby slid into a seat next to Morgan. “What’s happening?”

“I said, not until everyone is here,” Dilara repeated. “Please be patient.”

Gradually, their comrades filled in the seats around the long table. Once all were present, Damien pushed his chair out and stood.

“Rosa is dead,” he said heavily.

Mostly everyone reacted with shocked silence. They stared at Damien, their expressions blank. But Morgan’s reaction was not so placid.

“ _What?_ What do you mean, she’s dead?! What happened? What the fuck?”

“Perhaps you could have broken the news in a more sensitive manner,” Dilara muttered to Damien. She raised her voice to explain. “We do not have all the details, but Rosa was led into a trap. She was killed by Doctor Scratch, and… her daughter was also stabbed.”

“Not Kanaya!” Ruby gasped. 

“She’s all right. We managed to get to her in time.” Dilara said hastily. “She gained some information very valuable to us.” She swallowed. “She was with Rose Lalonde when she was attacked. Contrary to what Rosa was told, Rose did not escape Doctor Scratch’s custody. She was merely sent here. She informed Kanaya that Scratch has been using our children as assassins… herself being one of them. She was sent to kill the Maryams, but abandoned her objective. They were attacked, and she attempted to protect Kanaya… But was recaptured by Scratch in the process.”

“So you’re saying my Thollux ith off thomewhere killing people?” said Hugh. His control over his voice gradually fell with his agitation, his lisp revealing itself in full. “We have to make Thcratch pay! We have to get them _all_ out of there, thith can’t go on! Ith there any way we can track them down?!”

“Aren’t you the hacker here, Hugh? I think we should be the ones asking you,” Morgan snapped. “ _Is_ there any way?”

Hugh deflated slightly. “I… don’t think tho. That would require technology I don’t have acceth to, or at leatht that which I don’t condone.”

“So, what are we supposed to all up and motherfuckin’ do?” Djimon growled.

“Maybe we should wait for Candace,” Ruby suggested. “She’s kinda the boss here, right?”

“Yeah. We might as well hold out for Marian and Duncan, too, whenever they decide to show up.” Morgan rolled her eyes. 

“Then it’s settled. We wait for three, and we find thirteen.”

“And we mourn one.” Dilara had not forgotten her first piece of news in the wake of that which followed. “Rosa should be here with us.” 

The others murmured in agreement. “Not just Rosa...” 

“David and Robin.”

“Don’t forget Strider!” 

“Jace Harley, too.”

“And Sebastian.”

Dilara’s voice again rose above the rest. “We’ll wait for the others, then, we will finally pay them back for all that has been taken from us.”

Rather than a cheer, the group voiced their agreement with determined eyes. Their silence said it all.

“We will avenge our ghosts.”

***

Rose didn’t know how she had spent sixteen years cooped up in the facility. If she stood still too long, she felt as if the walls were closing in on her. How hadn’t she felt it before? There was nowhere she could escape it. Every hall ended in a transport pad that would take her to another hall, another room, another cramped prison. There was no room to breathe. 

She found herself walking the corridors as a way of coping. If she kept moving, she didn’t feel so suffocated. When she finished her rounds, she would begin again. 

It may not have been interesting, was better than sitting and doing nothing. It was better than doing any of the tasks she had done a thousand times, the tasks that would make her into a person she did not want to be.

Rose was done with training. She was done with the facility and everything it represented.

Rose passed by the door to the quarters she shared with the trainees, (she couldn’t call herself one of them anymore), and prepared to start over her rotation. But when she tried to step onto the transport pad, Terezi darted into view and blocked her way. 

“What is up with you?” she demanded. “You haven’t done anything but walk since you came back. It’s been two days, Rose. Think you’ve had a long enough hike?”

Rose shrugged. “I prefer this infinitely over any other activities this place has to offer. Would you kindly step aside?”

“No.” Terezi crossed her arms. “I’m still pissed at you for Vriska, and I can’t watch you suffer if you’re never around.”

“What are you expecting me to do?” Rose let a bit of her annoyance slip into her voice. Why wouldn’t Terezi just move?

Terezi sighed. “What can I do to make you come back inside?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“What’s so good about the outside world?” Terezi said, frustrated. “I’ve been out there, and it didn’t make me start acting crazy like you.”

“I am not going to stop until I…” Rose hesitated. She hadn’t thought deeply on what was driving her, only on fleeing the agonizing pain of immobility. Why _was_ she doing it? What was her goal?

To escape.

She wasn’t going to stop until she escaped the facility. That was what she wanted. She wanted someplace to run beyond the narrow halls, someplace to forget, somewhere, anywhere but where she was. She wanted out. 

“I am not going to stop until I am given the opportunity to leave this place forever.”

Terezi glanced up at the security cameras, suddenly nervous. “Okay, um… Here. Come back inside. Just for moment,” she added, taking note of Rose’s expression. “And you can explain why you want to leave so bad.”

Rose nodded slowly. The door to the barrack slid open, and she reluctantly followed Terezi inside. A message popped up on her interface when the door was safely shut.

_SO. WH4TS YOUR D34L?_

Rose sat wordlessly on the lid of her pod. She began composing a message, and Terezi groaned at how long it took.

_WR1T3 4 BOOK, ROS3, 1T WOULD T4K3 YOU L3SS T1M3._

Rose’s message for her appeared a moment later.

_You will probably not be able to understand this, but the change that has come over me is largely due to Kanaya. She made me realize that I could do better things than kill, and, especially, that those better things are more satisfying. I realized that I didn’t want to hurt her, nor anyone like her. I have actually become dramatically opposed to the idea._

_WHY WOULD YOU GO 4G41NST SCR4TCH? TH4T’S JUST STUP1D._

_Like I said, you wouldn’t understand. But perhaps I can put it in terms which you would. If you were told to kill Vriska, would you?_

_...NO. 1 GU3SS PROT3CT1NG K4N4Y4 M4K3S S3NS3, BUT WHY R1SK YOURS3LF FOR 4NYON3 3LS3?_

_Imagine that everyone had the potential to be as close to you as Vriska was. Would you harm those who felt that way for you? Whom you could grow attached to? I don’t know how much experience you have with those sort of feelings… Would you kill people who could change the world you live in? Try looking at them as advantages._

_BUT… 1F YOU SWOR3 OFF K1LL1NG, YOU WOULDN’T B3 4BL3 TO 3L1M1N4T3 4NYON3 WHO W4SN’T 4N 4DV4NT3G3. YOU WOULDN’T B3 4BL3 TO G3T 4S STRONG._

_Would you not be stronger if you had conquered opposition? Even enemies have their place in one’s life._

_..._

_W3LL, SH1T. TH4T’S 4CTU4LLY PR3TTY SM4RT._

_Are you agreeing with me, then?_

_MMM… NOT QU1T3. TH3R3’S ST1LL NO W4Y TO F1GHT SCR4TCH._

Rose spoke aloud. “That may not be true.” She saw Terezi open her mouth, then look up at the ever-present security cameras and change her mind. Another message appeared on Rose’s screen.

_WH4T DO YOU M34N BY TH4T?_

_There are some things which Scratch cannot predict. For example, he did not expect me to kill Vriska. And, given the technologies he has fitted us with, we actually have a considerable measure of power. Wouldn’t it be deliciously ironic if we were his downfall?_

_JUST B3 STR41GHT UP W1TH M3, ROS3. WH4T 4R3 YOU SCH3M1NG?_

Rose beckoned her closer, and Terezi moved from her pod to Rose’s. She sat a short distance away. 

_I have an idea,_ Rose’s message began.

_Just listen…_

Suddenly, Terezi smiled. 

_TH1S 1S 4LMOST L1K3 SOM3TH1NG VR1SK4 WOULD H4V3 DON3._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the question is raised: _can she finish writing by 4/13?_
> 
> The answer is probably no, because she needs to prioritize the cosplay she's been procrastinating on so she can wear it. But this fic will be ending within the next few weeks! *cue tears*


	15. Listen

“Why do you want to know?” 

Rose could understand Terezi’s suspicion. The trainees has always touted their special abilities, but to reveal how they worked? It would be a breach of security. A trainee could never tell how their upgrade worked. They would offer tantalizing hints, to taunt those who may or may not be curious, but guard their secrets to the grave. 

“It is crucial to our plan. You know this,” said Rose. She followed her statement with a message. Speaking her mind under the watchful eye of the cameras wasn’t a good idea.

_Terezi, please cooperate and tell me how your upgrade functions._

Terezi was still wary. _WHY DON’T YOU T3LL M3 4BOUT YOURS F1RST?_ Then she grinned. “Oh, sorry. I forgot.”

“Forgot what?”

Terezi raised an eyebrow. _TH4T YOU DON’T H4V3 ON3?_ She stopped. “Wait, didn’t Vriska tell you? I thought she would.” Her voice, now that it could be heard, sounded surprised. Rose suspected there was also a hint of amusement hidden in it.

_Please do not speak aloud. Yes, she did tell me, but I thought she was lying. You mean to suggest that I really do not have an aspect upgrade? How do you know?_

_M3 4ND VR1SK4 GOT 1NTO TH1S L4DY’S F1L3S, SH3 WORK3D FOR SCR4TCH. TH3R3 W4S 4LL K1NDS OF STUFF 4BOUT YOU 4ND H1M 4ND 4LL OF US. MOST OF 1T D1DN’T M4K3 4NY S3NS3 BUT 1T M4D3 1T PR3TTY CLE4R TH4T YOU W3R3 TH3 CONTROL SUBJ3CT 1N TH1S 3XP3R1M3NT. YOU DON’T H4V3 4N 4SP3CT UPGR4D3 4ND YOU N3V3R D1D._

_D1D YOU R34LLY N3V3R R34L1Z3 SOM3TH1NG W4S M1SS1NG?_

_How was I supposed to, with you all keeping their operation a secret? I always thought they worked independently from my control._

_H4H4H4 OH MY GOD. NO, ROS3._ Rose glared at Terezi as a giggle escaped her lips. 

_Will you quit laughing at me and help me be productive? Was there anything in those files that could be of use to us?_

_L1K3 1 S41D NON3 OF 1T M4D3 MUCH S3NS3._

_All right, then. Tell me how your upgrade works so we can move on._

_H3H3H3H3 SUR3. 1 JUST T4K3 SOM3BODY’S 1D NUMB3R 4ND 1 C4N 3NT3R TH31R C3NTR4L COD3._

_... “Central code”?_

_BR41NS 4R3 FULL OF T3CH 4ND W1R3S 4ND SH1T. TH3R3’S COD3 TH4T RUNS 4LL OF 1T. 1F 1 G3T 1N, 1 C4N M4K3 P3OPL3 TH1NK OR DO WH4T3V3R 1 W4NT. em >_

__W3LL, 1 M34N, NOT 4NYTH1NG. TH3R3 4R3 L1M1TS. 1 C4N’T H4CK 4NY OF SCR4TCH’S WORK3RS, 1 DON’T KNOW HOW VR1SK4 M4N4G3D TO DO TH4T. 4ND THOUGHTS 4R3 TH3 ONLY TH1NG 1 C4N CH4NG3. TH3R3’S 4LW4YS 4 V3RY SM4LL CH4NC3 P3OPL3 WON’T DO WH4T 1 W4NT TH3M TO._ _

__Do you think the others would be so willing to help us? Your powers are formidable, but we may need theirs as well._ _

__1 DON’T S33 WHY NOT. 1F 1’M DO1NG 1T, TH3Y’LL H4V3 TO S33 1T’S S3NS1BL3._ _

__And if they refuse, you could always change their opinions._ _

__TH4T’S R1GHT. >:]_ _

Rose went to create a new message. She directed it to Roxy, Porrim, and Meenah, then stopped. “Do you know the IDs of those in the male wing? I’ve never gotten close enough to the boys to collect their numbers. Quite frankly, I never thought to.” 

Terezi nodded. “Yup, I got ‘em a while ago. I ran into a guy in the training room one time and I got the whole list from him.” She reeled off a list of numbers, which Rose entered into her interface. As an afterthought, she sent a copy of the message to Terezi so she could read it. 

_To all the trainees of Doctor Scratch:_

_Hello. My name is Rose Lalonde. Some of you are quite familiar with me, others are not. I have recently returned from a mission which I rejected. I no longer support the purpose of this facility. If you are interested in hearing why, or helping me to carry out my objective, please meet me in the training room._

_My objective is to escape, in case you’re wondering._

Rose slid off her pod and walked to the door. She didn’t look over her shoulder to see if Terezi was following. 

Together they stepped onto the transport pad that took them to the training room. When they went inside, the equipment Rose had seen so many times before seemed strange and unfamiliar. Even the exercise machines seemed to hold a hint of menace. 

She had once thrown up on that treadmill after running too far, too fast… And those simulators, immersing her in the feeling of drowning until she found a way to escape… The computer games which she had played and played until her eyes hurt, “just one more level”, just one more until her mind would be unbeatable. 

And the screens. 

There was one above every training station. When they were in use, they displayed the scores of the station’s occupant, comparing them to those of the other trainees. Someone beat your high score. Your run times are slipping. You’d better go and train some more before you slip off the leaderboards entirely and become a failure. 

Now, the screens were dark with disuse. Rose looked away as she walked to the center of the room and took a seat on the floor. She was determined not to touch any of those instruments ever again. 

Terezi eyed the seat of a computer station, but sat down next to Rose on the ground. The door shut automatically, and the two were left sitting in silence. 

“The more I think about this place, the more wrong it feels,” Rose said quietly. Terezi didn’t respond. 

The door slid open, and the figure of a girl appeared. 

“Rose! You’ve been gone ages and ages!” 

Meenah rushed inside, the door closing behind her, and stopped in front of the Rose and Terezi. “What are y’all sittin’ on the ground for?" 

Rose pointed to the space beside her. “All will be explained. Would you care to take a seat?” 

As Meenah settled onto the floor, the door opened once more. A grumpy-looking boy who Rose had never seen stepped inside. His eyes were shifty, glancing back and forth, and ringed with dark circles. He finally focused on the group of girls and appeared to be sizing them up. 

“I didn’t realize this was a meeting for the fucking Anti-Chair Association, or I would’ve brought a goddamn pillow to rest my ass on.” He scowled. “Seriously, what in the fresh hell are you doing?” 

“Sit down, Karkat,” said Terezi, to Rose’s surprise. 

“Wait, you know him?” 

Terezi shrugged. “He’s the one I told you about. We’ve chatted a few times.” 

“Chatted,” Karkat grumbled. “More like you pester me every time the Light-bitch gets sick of you.” 

He and Terezi exchanged banter as the room began to fill. Rose greeted Roxy cordially, Porrim with a slight pang, and the boys with unfettered curiosity. She wanted to ask straight away what their abilities were, but waited until everyone was present to begin speaking. 

em >“I suppose we should begin with introductions.” The room went quiet as she spoke. “My name is Rose.” She looked to Terezi. 

“I’m Terezi?” 

They went around in a circle, introducing themselves. Some of the girls and boys seemed to know each other, but each member of the opposite sex was a stranger to Rose. A blond boy by the name of Dave spoke up when the circle was complete. 

“So, get-to-know-you activities aside, what’s the whole reason we’re here?” 

Rose held up a finger. In a moment, she had created a group message board with everyone present. 

_L-0360613, “ROSE” opened message board at 19:00._

_ROSE: I believe this will be a better method of communication, considering the controversial nature of what we will be discussing._

_ROSE: You are all aware that my goal is to escape this facility. Who has questions?_

_ROXY: i do lol_

_ROXY: why do u wanna escape??_

_ROSE: On my recent mission I befriended someone with whom I grew very close. She led me to believe that this business of killing is not something I wish to be a part of._

_MEENAH: yeah ok but why should a chick none of us have ever met change our minds_

_ROSE: I would hope you all trust my judgement, but that may be too much to ask. Terezi?_

_TEREZI: 1 GOT TH1S >:]_

_TEREZI: SO. CONTR4RY TO WH4T W3 H4V3 B33N T4UGHT OUR WHOL3 L1V3S, 4PP4R3NTLY YOU… DON’T 4CTU4LY N33D TO K1LL P3OPL3 TO G3T BY. WHY DO SOM3TH1NG TH4T’S UNN3C3SS4RY?_

_SOLLUX: maybe cau2e well get kiilled our2elve2 iif we dont?_

_SOLLUX: not two raiin on anybody2 parade but thii2 2ound2 pretty iimpo22iible. you cant ju2t fiight 2cratch._

_ERIDAN: wway to make sense for once sol_

_ERIDAN: i totally agree that wwe are all gonna end up dead in the fuckin ground if wwe try to do anythin remotely resemblin escape_

_ROSE: Would you say that your opinion hinges on the probability of success? As in, none of you are violently opposed to the idea, you are merely fearful of its consequences?_

_RUFIOH: uh, that sounds about r1ght, yeah…_

_ERIDAN: im not fuckin scared i just think this is stupid is all and no amount of plannin is gonna change how fuckin dead wwell be if wwe try this shit_

_ROSE: Would anyone care for me to reveal my plan? It may sway your decisions._

_MEENAH: yeah knock yourshellf out_

_ROSE: Terezi has informed me of what her upgrade allows her to do, which I will share with you if you decide to follow me. My theory is, if we combine her power with those belonging to you all, we may be able to hack one of Scratch’s workers. The worker I speak of is connected to a certain group who have been wronged by Scratch and aim to bring him down. If we hack him, we can send a message to this group and solicit their aid._

_DIRK: And they would have the power to help us escape?_

_ROSE: Yes._

_DIRK: Are you sure about that?_

_ROSE: They know more of Scratch than anyone else in the outside world, so, yes, I’m sure._

_MEENAH: mmm_

_MEENAH: okay i dunno how keen i am on tellin my power to everybody but if its reely necessary i will i guess_

_ROSE: Are you indicating your participation in my plan?_

_MEENAH: oh uh_

_MEENAH: yeah i guess i am? it sounds like it might work_

_ROSE: All others in agreement, say aye._

_PORRIM: Aye._

_ROXY: aye_

_TEREZI: 4Y3_

_KARKAT: AYE._

_MEENAH: OKAY -EV-ERYBODYS FUCKIN SAYIN AY-E W-E G-ET IT_

_ROSE: Would anyone be willing to share their abilities? The sooner they are catalogued, the more quickly we can plan._

_TEREZI: 1 C4N ST4RT OFF, CONS1D3R1NG 1’V3 4LR34DY TOLD ON3 P3RSON._

_TEREZI: SO. 1 C4N H4CK P3OPL3 4ND M4K3 TH3M W4NT TO DO TH1NGS. TH4T’S B4S1C4LLY 1T._

_ROXY: yOOO_

_ROXY: basically it?? thats fuckin cool all i can do is delete sectioms of code to fuck people up >:(_

_ROXY: * sections_

_SOLLUX: terezii, your upgrade u2e2 central code too?_

_TEREZI: Y34H._

_SOLLUX: hmm_

_SOLLUX: ii thiink iit2 2afe to a22ume they all do, then. miine me22e2 up people’2 heart2._

_ROXY: :0_

_KARKAT: WOAH WOAH WOAH DUDE YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT_

_KARKAT: DOES THAT MEAN YOU CAN JUST KILL PEOPLE AT THE DROP OF A HAT? LIKE, OOPS, A PARTICULARLY STRONG BREEZE JUST WAFTED MY GENTLEMANLY FEDORA FROM ITS PERCH ON MY CAREFULLY TAILORED LOCKS, GUESS SOME POOR SCHMUCK JUST BIT THE DUST??_

_SOLLUX: ehehe yeah pretty much._

_ROSE: Interesting. Terezi, this must mean that your access is limited to mental code, Sollux’s is purely physical and Roxy, you must have some sort of blend._

_GAMZEE: mInE mUsT bE sOmE mOtHeRfUcKiN mEnTaL sHiT tOo_

_GAMZEE: i CaN aLl Up AnD mAkE a BiTcH tOtAlLy LoSe ThEiR cHiLl, Im TaLkIn SoMe ExTrEmE rAgE rIgHt HeRe :o)_

_ERIDAN: erm yeah this sharin party is all wwell and good but i don’t think im comfortable joinin in_ \ 

_ERIDAN: no offense to you rose but this sounds like a load of unaccomplishable bullshit to me honestly_

_ERIDAN: you can count me out_

_H-0634689, “ERIDAN” has left the board._

_ROXY: :0_

_ROSE: If anyone else has misgivings, please let me know immediately. I do not wish to betray the details of this plan to those not participating._

_KARKAT: DON’T TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY. HE’LL COME AROUND EVENTUALLY, HE JUST DOESN’T WANT TO RISK HIS OWN ASS._

_ROSE: That is good to know. Is anyone else willing to share?_

_KARKAT: YEAH, I’M GAME, BUT DO YOU MIND IF I DO IT OVER PRIVATE MESSAGING? THIS GROUP SHIT IS WEIRD. IT’S LIKE EVERYTHING’S ALL OUT IN THE OPEN._

_ROSE: We’ll need to trust each other if we are to be successful._

_KARKAT: YEAH, YEAH, I KNOW. I’LL WORK ON THAT LATER._

_B-0514907, “KARKAT” has left the board._

_MEENAH: i hate to sound like a cop-out but im gonna follow suit on this one_

_MEENAH: catch ya later rose_

_MEENAH: ill message you in a sec_

_L-0721376, “MEENAH” has left the board._

_ROSE: Private messaging is acceptable, but I’d prefer if we could all be honest with each other. We will never beat Scratch if there is suspicion between us._

_B-5430135, “RUFIOH” has left the board._

_ROSE: Sigh._

_ROSE: I guess... I’ll contact you all momentarily._

_ROSE: And individually._

_L-0360613, “ROSE” closed message board at 19:38._

With her eyes glued to her interface, Rose hadn’t noticed the crowd sitting around her disperse. Several members of the group who had left the board had also left the room, most notably the boy with the slicked-back hair. But the one who typed in alternating caps had seemed to like her plan, where had he gone? 

“Gamzee, get the fuck down from there!” 

As Rose looked around the room, she focused on the station in one corner of the room. The boy who she hadn’t been able to locate was sitting on top of the gigantic computer, Karkat tugging on his foot. 

“You look fucking ridiculous. Come sit with the rest of us, you shitfaced ignoramus.” 

Gamzee’s lazy smile did not falter. “Nahh, brother. I can all up and get my motherfuckin chill on up here.” 

“It’s a matter of fucking politeness. You, floor, sit. Now.” 

“Yeah... I don’t think you motherfuckin’ understand. Up here, it’s like, I can see the whole world. And it’s tellin’ me I need to stay right here, cause that’s where I belong.” Gamzee stretched a dreamy hand out into the air. “There’s some motherfuckin’ insane views up in this place. It’s almost like a…” 

Karkat yanked on Gamzee’s leg harder. “Don’t you fucking dare say ‘miracle.’ There are no fucking miracles here, and the only way you’re ever going to see further than Doctor Scratch’s asshole is if you GET THE FUCK DOWN!” 

Gamzee slid off the computer and landed on the floor with a thud. “No need to get your wicked sass on at me, bro. I’m comin’.” 

Karkat sat down heavily, tugging Gamzee down with him. “Sorry for that,” he addressed Rose. “This chump tried marijuana on his first mission and he’s been higher than the extended middle finger of God ever since. I don’t know how the fuck he gets his supplies in here.” 

“Miracles,” Gamzee mumbled. Terezi let out a snort. 

“It’s no trouble. Now, I am going to contact each of you now, if you would please bear with me,” Rose answered. 

She sent a message to each of the remaining trainees, gathering information on their individual powers. By the time she had spoken to five people, a more detailed plan was beginning to blossom in her mind. 

“All right,” she announced. “I think I have a much more solid idea now.” 

“Do tell,” Porrim encouraged her. The others unconsciously mirrored her sentiment, adjusting their posture to listen and scooting forward. 

“Porrim.” Rose began, then stopped, remembering the need for silence. She opened a new message board, this time only including those present. 

_L-0360613, “ROSE” opened message board at 19:51_

_ROSE: Porrim, your ability causes heightened radar and awareness of those whose defenses are weakened. I imagine it was made with a partner in mind, to assist someone with an ability relating to hacking._

_ROSE: Roxy, Gamzee, Dave, Dirk, and Terezi. You all have mentally incapacitating powers. They may come in handy to distract Scratch’s employees from our escape, or possibly to engage in combat with them if need be. The latter applies to your restorative capabilities as well, Meenah._

_ROSE: Karkat and Sollux have powers that are physically debilitating. They will also help us in battle, especially if worst comes to worst and killing is a necessity._

_KARKAT: ERIDAN’S GOT MENTAL SHIT GOING ON, TOO._

_KARKAT: HE’S A FUCKING HYPOCRITE. HE WON’T TELL YOU ABOUT HIS POWERS JUST BECAUSE HE DOESN’T KNOW YOU, BUT THE SECOND HE GOT THEM HE CAME TO ME, BLABBING ABOUT NOT KNOWING HOW TO WORK THEM. HIS DEAL IS HOPE, TAKING IT, GIVING IT, WHATEVER’S NECESSARY. IT’S KIND OF HILARIOUS CONSIDERING WHAT A FUCKING PESSIMIST HE IS._

_KARKAT: I DON’T KNOW ABOUT RUFIOH, WE’VE NEVER REALLY BEEN CLOSE. HIS ASPECT’S BREATH. IF I HAD TO HAZARD A GUESS I’D SAY HIS ABILITIES ARE PHYSICAL, BUT IT MIGHT BE HARD TO GET HIM TO HELP US. HE’S NOT GOING TO WANT TO FIGHT._

_ROSE: He’ll have to. I cannot predict whether or not we will need him, but he will most definitely need us._

_ROSE: If he does not fight with us, he will either be punished for our disobedience or used to collect information on how we planned an escape. Neither of these outcomes are desirable to us._

_DIRK: I think if he realizes it’s fighting Scratch or us, he’ll choose our side._

_ROSE: That’s good to hear._

_ROSE: Now… We may begin this plan at any time. I should like to do so as soon as possible, lest Scratch discover our intentions. Does anyone object to us starting presently?_

_KARKAT: NO. I’LL TELL ERIDAN THAT WE ARE AND HOPEFULLY BY THE TIME ANY FIGHT ROLLS AROUND HE’LL HAVE GOTTEN HIS SHIT TOGETHER._

_L-0360613, “ROSE” has closed message board at 20:10._

“This messaging is growing tiresome.” Rose slid out the knife strapped to her thigh and tossed it to Karkat, who was nearest to the security cameras. “You know what to do.” 

In one agile leap, he was on top of the computer in the same place Gamzee had been. He drove the knife into the lense of the camera, and the glass shattered with the force of his blow. Several sparks flew out from the wrecked device. Karkat jumped back down and took his place in the circle once more, as if nothing had happened. 

“Porrim, begin the scan,” Rose said quietly. 

Porrim nodded, her interface already open. Her lips tightened as she worked, Rose observing in silence. 

“Three in vicinity.” Porrim looked up. “Two women and a man. The first of the women has the weakest defense, but the man is closest." 

“Are there names attached?” Rose asked. 

Porrim concentrated hard. “Mmm… Got one. Marian Megido?” 

Rose startled. “Really? Are you sure?” 

“Yes, is that name significant?” 

“Yes. She was a teacher at the school where I was placed… And if I guess correctly, that man must be Duncan Ampora. I saw him before I was brought back to the barracks.” So Scratch had had multiple workers watching Rose at the Academy? She shivered at the thought. It couldn’t have been. It would be a waste of resources to send multiple people after one girl. At least one of them must have had a different purpose. “Do you think you’ll be able to break into their systems?” 

Porrim was already on the task. It was a few minutes of watching her eyes flick back and forth before she finally frowned. “I… I don’t know if I’ll be able to.” 

Rose gritted her teeth. “Terezi, do you have any idea how Vriska was able to hack that woman?” 

Terezi shrugged. “Maybe Scratch let her for some reason… Maybe it was just luck.” 

Luck. Rose wished it was something she had more of, or at least of better quality. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Everything seemed to hinge on luck. The trajectory of a blade, the defense of a villain, the escape of those imprisoned… How she _wished_ for luck. 

“Oh!” 

Rose’s eyes flew open. “Yes?” 

“Her defenses just went offline,” Porrim said, surprised. “She can be hacked now.” 

“Terezi, go,” Rosa said instantly. 

“I’m going!” Terezi’s eyes were glued to her screen, her tongue poking out of her mouth slightly in concentration. “And… Got it! I’m in.” 

“Wait, theriouthly?” The boy called Sollux hadn’t spoken aloud before, but now, he sounded alarmed. “That wath _way_ too eathy. You don’t think it could be a trap?” 

“If it is a trap, Scratch is making himself very vulnerable for the sake of it,” said Rose. “I do not pretend to know his plans, but I think we should carry on. What do we have to lose?” 

Dave shrugged. “I kinda like being alive. Dunno about you.” 

“But can this be called life?” Rose fired back. “You have been willing, up to this point, to proceed. Why should a bit of adversity stop you? I assume you understand the consequences of this ‘life’? An assassin will not die of old age. An associate of Doctor Scratch will not die the hero. This is our only chance to do something more than train for the rest of our prospectively short lives.” 

“Hey, don’t get me wrong. I do want to get out of here. I just think it’s stupid to waste our chance on something that might not work, is all.” 

Rose sighed. “It’s all we have.” 

“Hey, knuckleheads,” said Terezi suddenly. “I’ve got a message ready to go. You want to quit arguing and read it before I send it?” 

“Of course,” Rose said quickly. “Please, do share.” 

Terezi projected her screen for all to see. She had written an outgoing message, which would be sent from one Marian Megido’s ID. The recipient number had yet to be entered. 

“Hello,” Rose read aloud. “My name is Terezi. There’s a big group of kids sitting around me right now, one of them is named Rose, you might know her. I bet you’re wondering why I’m sending you a message through somebody else’s screen! Well, we aren’t allowed to send messages to the outside world ourselves, and this lady was in the vicinity, so there you go.” 

Rose interrupted. “Make a note of Ampora’s presence as well, would you? I feel it may be important.” Terezi nodded and continued to read aloud. 

“To the point. We’re stuck in here. I think you all know Doctor Scratch? He’s keeping us in this place called the facility. That’s all they ever call it. I don’t know its real name, I don’t know how big it is, I don’t know where it is. I guess this whole plan relies on how good you are at tracing signals. But we’re here, we’re waiting, and we want to escape. If you would help that would be great.” 

\Rose smiled. “It may not be the most elegant, but it’ll do. Let me make one addition, though. Please add this much, saying it is from me.” Terezi waited. “Kanaya told me of the existence of your Union. I hope her information was not at fault. I also hope my assumption that you were a Union member was correct, Dilara, otherwise this may end up very messy... I also would like to formally apologize for all the harm I have caused Kanaya and you, and beg for your forgiveness. We need your help. Please come as quickly as possible.” 

Terezi nodded. “Done. What number do I send this to?” 

Rose read off the ID number, belonging to Dilara Leijon, she had saved in her notes. Terezi entered it into the coding she had at the ready. When it was run, it would plant the desire in Marian’s mind to send out their message, word for word. 

She sent it out. 

“Well.” Rose breathed deeply. “I guess all we can do now is wait.” 

Five girls and five boys, sitting in a silent circle, pondering their imminent freedom or doom. Weighing their chances. Evaluating certain philosophical notions of life and worth. But no matter how they pondered, there was no turning back. 

They were set on course for escape. All they needed was a little luck in the right places. 

A little light in the dark.


	16. Linked

Dilara shut off the projector. “That was sent to me at roughly eight last night.”

“Holy shit.”

Dilara rolled her eyes. “Yes, thank you for that candid note, Morgan. Now. Let’s discuss what the content of this message means.”

“Terezi is alive,” Ruby said with a wide smile. “Maybe not safe, but we can work on that. She’s alive!”

“Otherth are alive, too,” Hugh added. “Probably all of them.”

“But both Marian and Duncan have been in proximity with them,” Enoch muttered. “Why did they not inform us?”

“Exactly my concerns,” said Dilara. “There is the possibility that they were unaware of their position, but it seems unlikely.”

“You can’t be suggesting betrayal?” Ruby’s grin vanished. “Is that why you didn’t invite them to this meeting?” 

“They are innocent until proven guilty, it was merely a precaution. We cannot afford to lose this advantage.” Dilara looked to Hugh. “We’re going to be relying on you here. Marian’s location at the time this message was sent is crucial information.”

“Yeah. Who knowth, maybe it’ll clear her name.” Hugh’s voice held an undertone of hope. “Maybe the didn’t do anything wrong at all.” 

“If she and Ampora were both there, I highly doubt she’s innocent,” said Morgan. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but his presence tips the scales. Two people is too much to ignore… Plus, he rubs me the wrong way.” She scowled. “I wouldn’t put it past him to be in cahoots with Scratch.”

“Yes, we’re all aware that you have a mutual dislike of each other,” Dilara sighed. “But do not allow it to cloud your vision. Again, they must be innocent until proven guilty.” 

“I thought we were waiting for Candace before we did anything?” Damien piped up. “Are we abandoning that ruling?”

“Yes.” It was Dilara’s turn to scowl. “Though she may be our unofficial leader, she is hardly ever here… Her absences and subsequent arrivals are unpredictable. We cannot afford to wait for her any longer.”

“I’m already tharting to work on that thignal,” Hugh murmured, entranced in a laptop he had pulled out from his bag. “I thould be able to get more tholid information in… Three dayth? Four? Maybe a little more.”

“Good. Hopefully Candace will have returned by then, and if not, we proceed.” Dilara tried to sound more confident than she felt. “We _will_ track down Scratch. I can feel it. The day he took our children from us was the day he made a grave mistake!”

Her statement was enthusiastic, as if it deserved a cheer to follow up with. But Hugh was absorbed in his tracking, and Morgan was staring moodily into the distance. Enoch was silent as usual. The others simply looked troubled. 

No matter. There would be other opportunities for pep talks. 

“All right. Let’s adjourn, then. Hugh, get back to me with any progress, okay?”

Hugh nodded, not looking up from the screen. 

Dilara hoped he would work quickly.

***

“Hey, I think I’ve got thomething.”

“Really? It’s only been,” Dilara checked her watch, “Hugh, it’s only been a little over two days. You projected a much longer timeframe. Have you begun to underestimate your skill?”

Hugh’s voice was fuzzy on the other line. Dilara held her cell phone closer to her ear. “No, I thtill know exactly how good I am at computerth, thank you very much. But Marian’th got thitty defenses, apparently. It wath only the protection around the location itthelf that kept me from finding her earlier. It wath extremely well guarded.”

“But you’ve managed to crack it?” Dilara wasn’t exactly asking a question. She already knew the answer.

“Yeth. It came up under a building called Felt Labth, thimple enough, but it theemth to have traded handth theveral timeth, not all of which were documented. There’th no way of telling if the place really ith Thcratch’th bathe of operationth. It’th a few thitieth away.”

Dilara laughed. “Hugh, you did it!”

“Now hold on jutht one thecond, you clearly didn’t hear my firtht bit. We don’t know much of anything about thith plathe. What if he’th luring uth into a trap thomehow? Maybe the building ithn’t even hith and we’ll get arrethted for barging in. Maybe it _ith_ hith and we’ll get arrethted for barging in. Maybe it’th hith, but it’th not hith bathe, and we won’t be able to thtop him for good if we go in.”

“Hmm.” Dilara stopped to think. “You have a point… But I think the others will agree that having our kids back is worth an incomplete attempt at bringing Scratch down. We can always try that later on.”

“But what if it’th a trap?” Hugh persisted. “It theemth like Marian… the might be working under Thratch. What if thith methage wathn’t from Ruby’th kid at all? What if the thent it herthelf?”

“You were the one so prepared to defend her innocence.”

Dilara could practically see Hugh waving his hands in agitation. “I know, and I thtill am! I’m jutht trying to prepare for every outcome! Theriouthly. What if thith ith a trap?”

Dilara had to think a long time before answering. “Can you tell if someone has been hacked?” she said finally. “Would the assailant leave any kind of signature, one that you could locate? That would prove whether or not the message had been sent by Terezi or Marian herself.”

“I’m not thure. Let me call you back in a minute.”

With Hugh, “a minute” was more likely to mean “several hours.” His sense of time was predictably off, and when he did call Dilara back, it was after midnight.

“I got it.” He sounded exhausted. “At firtht I thought it wath a trap for thure. There’th no doubt that the wath the one to thend the methage, but there wath another ID number attached to the thender. Thomeone forthed her to thend it. Holy _hell_ , that took digging. Thcratch doethn’t meth around with hith upgradeth, that thit wath nearly indetectable. Thith ith the real deal.”

Dilara exhaled in relief. “Good. If Marian was not the original sender, that decreases the likelihood of this being a trap exponentially. I think we should carry on, what say you?”

“Abtholutely. You want to make an official meeting out of thith or jutht thend out the word?” 

“Send out the word to meet somewhere. I’ll fill the others in on the finer details once we’re there.”

Hugh snorted. “‘Finer detailth.’ We’re jutht gonna walk in and thay ‘give uth our kidth back’, aren’t we.”

“It’ll be a bit more complex than that.”

“Whatever you thay.”

Dilara hung up. She hardly dared believe it, but the odds seemed to be pointing towards success. Perhaps she could even allow herself to hope.

Hugh texted her an address, and Dilara stepped outside her house, making for her hoverpod. She still preferred the cars of old, but these were better than transport pads. She didn’t trust pads. Who was to say your atoms wouldn’t get all scrambled up? What if you and someone else were travelling at the same time, and you ended up with the wrong hands attached to your wrists? The whole business was highly untrustworthy, in her opinion.

She unlocked her hoverpod with a small beep, and hopped inside. The interior was cozy, all plush seats and rounded surfaces. She buckled her seatbelt and turned her key in the ignition. The pod hummed to life, screens lighting up and awaiting her control. Underneath her, she felt the vehicle lift into the air. 

She entered her destination and maneuvered carefully out of her parking spot. The streets were fairly clear, only a few stray hoverpods whizzing through the airspace with her. A cool female voice read directions aloud as she flew through the city.

Dilara’s eyes may have been on the road, but her mind was far off. What would she say to Karkat, if she found him? She had been wondering for years, but had never come to a conclusion. “I’m sorry, my dear, but your father is dead?” Would it be better to wait to tell him, or be straightforward? Even worse to wonder about, would he still care for her as much as she did for him?

Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. After all, they still had a long way to go before the children would be safe. 

“Your destination is on the right,” her pod informed her. Dilara eased her foot off the gas and parked, waiting for the hoverpod to settle securely on the ground before getting out. The shop across the sidewalk had a window full of pastel decorations, and through it, Dilara could see a counter arrayed with pastries. She nodded with approval. The place was empty except for a bored-looking cashier, and had sweets to boot. It was the perfect place to meet. 

“Dilara! Wait for me!”

Dilara looked over her shoulder. She knew that voice.

“Candace?”

The woman hurried across the street, tossing her thick black hair over her shoulder. “That’s me. I just got the group text, what’s goin’ down?”

“Come inside with me,” Dilara invited her. Candace caught up to Dilara and pushed the door open, a bell jangling as she did so. The two headed inside and took seats in a corner booth.

“We should wait until everyone is here before I break out the news,” said Dilara. 

“Oh, come on! I’ve been away for ages and ages. And I founded this whole Union! Give your creator some respect,” Candace said with a frown. “You’ve got to tell me what’s been going on lately. Something must have happened, Hugh’s text sounded urgent.”

“Wait, did no one tell you anything these past weeks?” Oops. Dilara had expected someone to contact Candace and inform her of the recent developments. After all, they had been waiting for her, not keeping secrets from her. 

Candace shook her head. “Nope. Nobody. Lay it on me, girl.”

“Well… I’ll tell you what you missed, but you’ll have to wait until this meeting has begun to hear the reason for it.” Dilara thought back to the recent Union meetings. So much had occurred, she had trouble remembering just how much Candace had missed. 

Oh. Of course. She had missed one _rather_ important detail. 

“Well,” she began. “Our kids are all alive.”

Candace’s mouth fell open. “How on earth can you be sure?”

Dilara relayed the story of Rose and Kanaya. Candace gasped and gripped the edge of the table in the suspenseful moments, and when Dilara finished speaking, her eyes were oddly shiny. 

“So Rosa is really dead?”

Dilara nodded miserably. “And that’s only the beginning.” Candace arched an eyebrow.

“Go on?”

Dilara lowered her voice. “We’ve got reason to believe that Marian and Duncan may have betrayed us to Scratch.”

Candace’s expression suddenly grew stiff. “They lost people just like you, you know. Why would you suspect them of betraying you?”

“I don’t know...” Dilara bit her lip. “Well, Marian didn’t actually lose anyone, did she? I thought you just invited her to the group because she shared our contempt for neurotechnology.”

“Still. Neither of those two have ever given you reason to doubt them!” Candace insisted. 

“But they have. Very recently, Marian sent us all a message, but it wasn’t from her. It was signed by Rose, as well as Terezi.”

“Terezi who?”

Dilara rolled her eyes. “Pyrope, Candace, honestly.” Her face grew serious as she continued. “Marian must have been relatively close to them for them to have acquired access to her interface like that. And think about it… She and Duncan are the only among our numbers to possess an interface. You’re the only other one, but at least you have a reason, your work necessitates it. Doesn’t it seem a little suspicious that they have them for no reason?”

Candace shrugged. “Marian had hers before she condemned neurotechnology. Duncan was probably the same. Can’t people change?”

“Of course they can, and of course I don’t want to doubt them, but you really have to look at the facts.” 

The bell in the doorway jingled again, and Ruby appeared. She walked over to the booth and sat down next to Dilara. She didn’t seem surprised by Candace’s presence.

“Hey, Candy, good to see you. Jeez, is nobody else here yet?”

Dilara glanced out the window. Walking down the sidewalk was another familiar face. “No. Morgan’s here too, or she will be in a second.”

Ruby looked out the window with a grin. “Right after me? I’m telling you, she stalks me.” Morgan grew close enough to spy Ruby through the window and made a face. Ruby flipped her off in return. 

Candace snickered. “You two never get old. Always with the bickering. Hey, is Enoch still hitting on you, Dee?”

Dilara blushed. “I’m telling you, he never was. We’re just good friends.”

“It takes more than friendship to put up with that guy,” Candace smirked. “Come on, you can tell us.”

Dilara looked away. “Please don’t.”

“What, is constant sweat not your thing? You lookin’ for a more clean-cut man?”

Ruby shot her a look, and Candace quickly shut her mouth. “Oh, god. Whoops. Sorry, Dee.”

“It’s fine,” Dilara said quietly. “It’s been many years, I should be able to take a joke by now.”

Ruby hesitantly laid a hand on Dilara’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. We all know how devoted you were to Sebastian. You don’t need to force yourself to recover. Just feel what you feel.”

“Talking about feelings, are we?” Morgan plonked down next to Ruby and addressed her. “First off, it’s time you put it on the table that you’re secretly obsessed with me.”

“What? You’re the one who nearly hit me with your hoverpod, you were flying so close behind me!” Ruby retorted.

Dilara lost herself in the familiar banter. It was the perfect distraction to bring back her smile. The booth began to fill, and she began to laugh along with her friends, forgetting the old wounds she so often was reminded of. Once Damien arrived, they had to split off into two groups sitting a short distance from each other. If the bored cashier minded the louder members of their party, he didn’t say anything.

“All right!” Candace clapped her hands. “Will you all shut up for a second!” The chatter gradually died out until she held the group’s attention. 

Candace pulled out a twenty dollar bill and motioned her head towards the cashier. Morgan plucked it from her fingers and made her way over to the counter. She had a short conversation with the boy, which culminated with him shrugging and retreating into the bakery. Morgan returned to her seat.

“Nobody will overhear us now,” Candace explained. “We can begin. Dilara, I take it you have news?”

“Yes, though it’s more Hugh’s than mine.” Dilara looked to Hugh, but he shook his head, indicating that she should be the one to tell. “All right. Hugh was able to hack the message we received from Marian. She did appear to have been in a building belonging to Scratch at the time it was sent. The only problem is that we cannot be sure if the building is his main operating place, or one of many locations.”

Damien raised his eyebrows. “Does that even matter? Damn, Hugh! You’ve got the hacks! That was way faster than I expected.” 

“Wait, ith that an inthult?”

Dilara interrupted before the topic was derailed. “Anyhow! We must hold a vote to decide the very issue which Damien has pointed out. There is the possibility that this may be a trap. Hugh was able to confirm that the message truly was from Terezi, but that does not mean that Scratch won’t be aware of our plan. And if this place is not his main building, we may not be able to take him out in one go. Here is the question: should we try to break in anyway?”

Morgan was silent for a minute before responding. “Is that even a question? Of course we try anyway.”

“Please raise your hand if you vote to proceed,” said Dilara. Everyone raised their hand. “Um… Raise your hand if you vote to proceed immediately.” Every hand remained in the air.

“Well.” Hugh took over. “I gueth we’re heading off to Felt Labth, then?”

“Not so fast, we need to go over our game plan,” Dilara reprimanded him. He seemed surprised.

“Wait, we actually have a plan? I wath theriouth when I athumed we were jutht going to walk in there.”

“No. We have to plan what we will do if we should encounter Scratch, how we will treat anyone else we encounter, and what we do with the kids, of course.”

“Here’s a plan.” Morgan balled her hand into a fist. “We kill Scratch. We knock out anybody in our way. And we get those guys the hell out of there.”

“Do we really want to resort to violence?” Dilara said with a frown. “I’m especially hesitant to _kill_... After all, Scratch is a very powerful man. We cannot forget that. There is a good chance that we will be arrested if we are caught, or possibly worse. Killing him would mean severe punishment.”

“Who cares? He deserves it!” 

“All right… Who votes to kill Scratch?” Dilara said reluctantly. Several hands raised, including Morgan, Djimon, and, to Dilara’s surprise, Candace. “Who has a different idea?”

“We could capture him thomehow?” Hugh suggested. “Tie him up, or… I don’t know. Thomething like that. Or we could get enough proof to get him in trouble! That’th a better idea.”

Ruby nodded. “That is a good plan.” Dilara could see the gears turning in her mind as she thought. “What type of evidence are we talking here?” 

“Pictureth? Videoth? If he went to court, all of uth could tethtify. Candace, don’t you thtill have the original thecurity tapeth of when he contacted you?”

“We can’t think of any of that until we actually break in,” Damien reminded him. “There’s gonna be some heavy security.”

“That might not actually be a big problem.” Hugh laced his fingers on the table, a satisfied grin appearing on his face. “I’ve been digging into the thignal Marian thent, getting acquainted with the therver. It’th thet up differently than a normal one. That’th one of the reathonth it’th tho hard to crack. But onthe you underthtand it it becometh eathier. I think I could take out any thecurity we run into.”

Did the tiniest of frowns just cross Candace’s features?

“If you happen to need any help, I can provide it,” she said, an eager smile appearing. It must have been Dilara’s imagination.

Hugh scoffed. “Thinthe when do you know anything about computerth?” 

“I _do_ things when I’m away, you know,” Candace huffed. “I don’t just take vacations. I’ve been doing some learning. Teach me how the signal works, and I could be a great help to you.”

“Whatever you thay.”

Morgan’s fingers were tapping on the table. She gritted her teeth as she spoke. “Look, it sounds like what you’re all saying is that this is a green light. What the hell are we waiting for? We can make shit up as we go, let’s just get moving, _please!_ ”

“Does anyone have any concerns, before we go?” Dilara said tentatively. No one responded, so she slid out of her place in the booth. “All right, then. Hugh, I’ll be following you in my hoverpod, everyone else can trail behind.”

Ruby pulled out her keys, and, in the distance, her pod beeped twice. Morgan did the same, but hit the button twice, so that hers beeped four times. She grinned, and Ruby stood up.

“Everything has to be a contest, huh?”

Morgan pressed the button again. _Beep beep._

Ruby left without another word. Dilara followed her out the door, the bell jingling. Once she was out, she turned and waited for Hugh. He tried to catch the door after Damien, but instead caught his fingers in the doorframe as it swung shut. 

“Fuck!” He winced and tugged his fingers free.

“Funny that should happen, I was just recalling another of your accidents,” Dilara said, amused. “I want to remind you. Do us all a favor and please do not be working on your computer as you drive. We do _not_ want you getting into a crash again.”

“Okay, that happened literally one time, and the other guy wath a drunk. It wathn’t my fault.” Hugh flexed his now-red fingers. 

“Of course it wasn’t. Just pay attention to where you’re going. Scratch’s security measures can wait to be dealt with.”

Hugh ignored her as he reached for his keys. His hoverpod was parked nearby, not far from Dilara’s. 

The trip, once it began, was longer than Dilara had expected. She wove through the streets, following Hugh’s pod and looking into her rear view mirror to make sure the group was following behind her. They passed through the business district, the stark apartment buildings of the residential district, and beyond. Eventually the city limits shrunk into the distance behind them. 

Now, it was open road.

Dilara found the spaces between cities to be uncomfortable. She used to pass through them often, and enjoyed the trips, but it had been years since she had left the city. Now, the in-between lands had been abandoned, and their state of disrepair only served as a reminder of how the old ways had slipped into irrelevance. No one traveled on these roads anymore, not now that transport pads were so popular. They were simply forgotten. All the miraculous technology of the new generation had negated their existence. The roads were cracked, and flat grasslands stretched from one side of Dilara’s vision to the other. The color seemed to have been sucked right out of them with neglect, and they were more gray than green. It was in eerie tones of monochrome that she continued to fly. 

Crossing into the next city was a breath of fresh air. Colors gradually began to return to the landscape, and the foreboding mood disappeared. It faded with time, and after a while of driving through the busy streets, Dilara began to wonder why the open space had made her nervous at all.

Dilara’s dashboard chirped, and she took one hand off the wheel to tap at her screen. Candace was calling. Her face filled one side of the screen, the other side clear to see the traffic through.

“Hey, Dee! Hugh said we have to get through one more city before we’ll get to this lab place. But we’ve been working and I think I’m definitely going to be able to help him with the security.”

“I told him not to hack and drive! Honestly, he is so ridiculous.”

Candace grinned. “Chill. I’m the one doing the hacking here.”

“You shouldn’t be doing it either! This is how pod accidents happen, Candace.”

“Chill, Dee! It’s fine! Here, look.” Candace waved her hands above the steering wheel so Dilara could see. “I’m still perfectly safe even with no hands. Hacking is no big deal… Oh, get that look off your face.”

Dilara pointedly ignored the part of her screen which Candace’s face was displayed on, focusing on the road. “See, this is proper driving. Please follow my example.”

“Never. Anyway, as I was going to say before you so dangerously distracted me. Hugh said he’s going to stay outside the lab and work from there. He doesn’t want to get caught up in anything we might run into, so he’ll be helping us with the security from a distance. I’ll be in contact with him on the inside.”

“I don’t know about leaving him alone,” Dilara said, suddenly anxious. “He is rather… accident-prone.”

“Yeah, the guy attracts harm like a magnet. But if something goes wrong I’ll get out as quick as I can and help him.”

“What if you’re in the middle of something?”

Candace shrugged. “I’ll tell someone else too. It’ll be fine, Dee. He’ll be more safe out there than inside, anyway.”

“I guess you’re right. But are you sure we shouldn’t have someone stay with him?”

“You know Hugh. He’d just get pissed off at whoever we sent for distracting him. Look, I get that you’re concerned, but I swear I’ll take care of it. Do you trust me?” Candace looked straight into the camera, making as close to eye contact with Dilara as she could.

“Of course.” It was difficult not to worry when you and all your friends were headed into a dangerous place run by a psychopath, but Dilara did her best to swallow her nerves. Candace was a very capable woman. If she said she would take care of it, she would. “You’re my friend, of course I trust you. But please be careful. For all of our sakes.”

“I will be.” Candace’s expression had a hint of smugness to it. She never thought she had a reason to be careful. She was always sure of herself, as if she had some other source telling her the exact outcome of her every action, and that outcome was always positive. 

Dilara hoped her confidence would pay off. It had never failed before, but one could never tell. A cruel twist of fate could unseat even the most powerful queen. 

Dilara would just have to trust. To succeed would take more than hope; she would need people she could rely on. She would need to eradicate all doubt. She forced down the worries that crept into her mind. 

Candace sighed. “C’mon, Dilara. We’ll be fine.” She adjusted her glasses, and for a moment, behind the lenses, her irises looked almost pink. 

She gave Dilara a comforting smile. Now her eyes were a dark magenta. Maybe Dilara needed some camera repairs?

“Just trust me, Dee.”


	17. Lunge

“That is... bigger than I expected.” Dilara stared at the building in front of her. It loomed, stony and gray, surrounded by fences of barbed wire. It closely resembled a prison. She couldn’t see any windows, only a distant door.

“Definitely not the most subtle. Nothing says ‘big, illegal lab’ like barbed wire and no windows,” Ruby agreed. “At least he didn’t plaster his name all over it.”

“I bet he would if he didn’t need to keep it a thecret.” Hugh was sitting on the ground, with his computer in his lap. He made no indication that he planned to move.

“Hugh, can you at least go somewhere a little more… discreet?” Dilara tried. “After arguing with Candace I’ve decided it’s okay to leave you here, but having you out in the open is simply unacceptable.”

Hugh set his computer to the side and forced himself up, grumbling about interruptions. “Fine, I’ll thtay in my hoverpod. Happy?”

“Maybe not happy, but satisfied.” Dilara smiled at him, but his back was already turned as he trudged back to where he had parked. Her smile faded as he climbed inside and shut the door with a clunk. She had the feeling she wouldn’t speak to him again in person for quite some time. 

Now she had to focus on getting in. She gathered the group into a circle around her. “All right. Candace, you and Hugh will work on the security. Hopefully you’ll be able to do enough damage to let us sneak in. If we run into any workers, who elects to dispose of them?”

Morgan cracked her knuckles. “Strictly knockouts only, right?” Dilara nodded. 

“How are we going to find the kids?” Damien asked. “They could be anywhere. That building’s huge.”

Dilara hesitated. “I guess we’ll just have to search.”

“Search?” Candace raised her eyebrows. “You know we need to split up. It’s not strategically the best plan, but be realistic. It would take forever to search that place in one group.”

“If he splits us up, we could be in major trouble,” Dilara argued. “We’ll be extremely vulnerable.”

“You think I don’t know that? But if we’re in small groups he can’t take us all out at once,”said Candace. “We can stay in touch. Each group can rescue a few kids, then come back. That way we’ve got a better chance of saving at least a few of them.”

Morgan shrugged. “She’s got a point. How would we split up?”

Candace thought for a moment. “Well, each group would need someone who was capable of self-defense. And there are, hmm, not eleven, we’re missing Marian, Duncan, and Rosa… Eight of us. Three groups of two.”

Dilara shook her head firmly. “No. absolutely not. Two is too few.”

“You’re leaving out Hugh,” Damien added. “There are only seven of us, since he’s staying outside.” 

“Okay… One group of three, one group of four?” Candace looked around at her friends. She seemed to be calculating who would work best with whom. “How about I go with Damien, Djimon, and Enoch. Morgan, Ruby, and Dilara, you ladies can be the other group.” 

“Sounds motherfuckin’ good to me,” Djimon growled. He glanced toward the building as if to move towards it, but Dilara cut him off. 

 

“Ah, ah, ah. Not just yet. I’m going to set up a group call so we can all be in constant contact.” She pulled out her cell phone and unlocked it, opening her video call app. “It’s times like these when I almost wish for an interface, it must be so much simpler” she muttered. She began the call. “Okay, that was a lie. I’d rather have slow tech than wires in my head any day.”

“We know, Dee,” said Candace. “Can we get going now?”

Dilara looked up at her, surprised. Candace was tapping her toes and fiddling with one of her many bracelets. Her eyes were wide behind the pink-rimmed glasses. She clearly had a lot of nervous energy. 

“Yes. All right.” Dilara took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

She took a slow step towards the building. The weight of what she was about to do was suddenly hitting her, and she found it a bit hard to move. She forced herself to keep going, and her friends followed in a similar fashion. All except Candace. She was neck-and-neck with Dilara, looking as though she was fighting not to keep going, but to hold herself back. 

“You okay?” Dilara whispered.

Candace glanced at her, taking her eyes away from the building. “What? Oh, yeah. Totally.” She walked faster. “I just want to show Scratch who’s boss.”

Dilara and let Candace speed ahead to the door without responding. She stopped with her fingers resting on the handle, waiting for the others to catch up.

The door, once Dilara was close enough to see it in detail, was of heavy steel. There was a keypad set into its center. Dilara held her phone up to it so it could be displayed in the group call. 

“Hugh, have you got the code yet?”

“Of courthe I have the fucking code, I’ve had it for hourth, it’s five eight theven thixth. Also, all the thecurity camerath are thet to a loop, tho you don’t need to worry about being theen.”

“I’m going to ignore the implication that you were working on this project while driving.” Dilara typed the code into the keypad, and the door slid open. 

Behind it was a brightly lit hallway, no, not hallway, more of an entrance chamber. It stretched about ten feet before ending in a transport pad. Dilara eyed it apprehensively.

“Are we going to have to use that?”

Morgan took a cautious step into the room. No alarms blared, and no traps were set off, so she continued walking. “I think we have to. There aren’t any other doors.”

Dilara groaned. “Oh, I don’t like this.”

“I don’t like it either, but we can deal.” Morgan lifted her foot above the transport pad. She looked over her shoulder at her friends, then set it down firmly.

With a chirp, a translucent screen appeared around the edges of the pad. Morgan startled and lifted her foot again. The screen faded away. 

“Okay, let’s try this.” She put both her feet on the pad and waited for the screens to fade into being around her. At shoulder height was a field to enter a destination. There was a drop-down menu for several predetermined options. 

“Training Room, Storage, Database, Office, Lab, Quarters 1, Quarters 2,” she read aloud. “Ruby, Dilara, get on. Let’s take Lab. You guys try one of the other locations.”

“We’ll take Storage,” Candace volunteered. “We’ll tell you on the call when we’re ready to switch.”

Dilara nodded. Her entire body was tensed as she gingerly rested a foot on the transport pad.

Ruby grabbed her hand. “You’re okay.” She pulled Dilara onto the pad with her before she could protest.

Morgan hit enter, and they were whirled away.

***

Dilara blinked. Her atoms had not been scrambled. She had not swapped limbs with Morgan or Ruby. Overall, the transportation experience had exceeded her expectations. She was safe, and staring into a completely different hall than she had previously been in.

Actually, it wasn’t completely different. It was very similar in design, with white walls and a cold stone floor. The only drastic difference was the door just in front of her. It had a keypad akin to that guarding the entrance, as well as several other sensors.

Dilara cleared her throat into her cell phone. “You all there?”

There were several affirmative responses from the other line. “Good. We’re safe in front of the door to what I assume is the Lab.” She held the phone camera up close to the sensors. “Hugh, how can we get past these?”

“Give me a thecond,” came the response. Dilara could hear the sound of clacking keys. “Hrm.. Okay, enter ‘78825’ on the keypad. That other one looks like a retinal scanner… Wait, I have an idea. Dilara, scan your eye real quick.”

“But won’t that lock us out? Mine is certainly not the eye this scanner is looking for.”

“Jutht do it pleathe.”

Dilara shrugged and leaned forward. The scanner came to life and swept a red beam across her eyes. After a second of processing, an error message appeared. “Access denied.”

“Okay, thankth,” said Hugh. Dilara could hear him typing away again.

“But it didn’t work,” she said, perplexed. 

“It wathn’t my intention for it to work. Jutht wait.”

In a few minutes, the typing noises stopped. “Okay. I’ve reprogrammed it to give your eye acceth. Try again now.”

Dilara leaned forward obediently and allowed the scanner to check her. This time, the message that appeared read “access granted.”

“Hugh, are you sure you’re not a verifiable genius?” Morgan’s mouth hung open. “Like, reeeeeeeeally sure?”

“Thut up and do the nextht thcanner. It’th fingerprint, right? Do the thame thing ath Dilara.”

Morgan pressed her thumb to the sensor and waited for it to deny her entry. When she tried again, it beeped its approval, and the door opened smoothly. 

Behind it, a hall branched off into two paths. Morgan stopped short. “Well. Fuck.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have split up so early,” Dilara whispered. “What do we do now?”

“Nothing to it.” Morgan grinned, but Dilara thought it looked a little forced. “I’ll go this way.” She pointed down the right hall. “I know how to fight better than the both of you combined, I can handle myself. Ruby, you take care of her.”

Dilara would assure Morgan that she did _not_ need to be “taken care of”, but she was too busy protesting something else. “No, Morgan. A group of two is bad enough, I will not allow you to go off alone.”

Ruby frowned. “I have to agree with Dilara here. Going off alone is stupid even for you, Morgan.” She took a step closer to her friend.

Morgan sighed. “Well, I--”

 _Bang._

Morgan stared. Between her and Ruby, a glass wall had slammed down from the ceiling, separating them. She pressed one hand to it, gently at first, then hitting it harder and harder. There was something in her eyes Dilara had never seen there before. Fear.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shiiiiiiiit.” Morgan’s panicked voice was muffled through the wall. She hit the glass repeatedly, but it did not budge. “Guys, he knows we’re here. He knows we’re here, you need to get out!”

Ruby pressed her hand to the wall where Morgan’s rested on the other side. “Are you insane? We aren’t leaving you!”

“You have to. Go back to the entrance as fast as you can, don’t wait for me or any of the others.” Morgan’s lips tightened. “I’m going to keep going.”

“What?” Dilara said disbelievingly. “No. If you move, we won’t know where to find you.”

“It’s pretty fucking obvious that we’re royally screwed!” Morgan shouted. “No matter what I do, Scratch knows we’re here, and you don’t have much time to get out. I’m not just going to sit here and wait for him. I’m going to keep working for the mission we came here on. I’ll try to find the kids and then escape, but don’t you try to follow me. Get out of here!”

And with that, she was sprinting down the hall away from Dilara and Ruby.

_”Wait, you idiot!”_

Ruby pounded her fist against the wall. When her hand came to a rest, Dilara saw that it was trembling. 

“If Scratch doesn’t kill her, believe me, I’m going to.”

Dilara took her hand gently. “Come on. We don’t have time.”

Ruby backed away from the wall. “Yeah… Yeah, you’re right.” She turned swiftly and began heading down the hall in the direction they had come from. Dilara ran to catch up with her and pulled out her phone. 

“Guys? We need to abort. Ruby and I have been separated from Morgan. Is anyone there?” The squares in which the group members’ faces would be displayed, should they hold their phone cameras up, showed only the inner linings of pockets. “Guys! Can you hear me?”

The camera shifted in Damien’s section of the call, and his face appeared. “Dilara! Oh, thank God. I’ve lost the others. I thought they were right behind me, but then they weren’t, I don’t know how it happened. I think I’m lost in here.”

“Scratch is splitting us up,” Dilara said grimly. “Hugh must not have done as good a job as he thought.”

“Or Scratch saw us coming somehow.” Enoch’s face appeared in the square beside Damien’s. “Damien, I noticed your exclusion from our numbers and set off to find you. It appears we have been led into some sort of maze. Perhaps if we continue to move we may locate one another.”

Dilara shook her head. “Wait, what do you mean, he could have seen us coming? You can’t be suggesting he has another spy?” Duncan and Marian’s betrayal had been enough of a shock. Could anyone else be conspiring against them? No, no remaining member of the Union would ever double-cross another. 

But that was what Dilara had thought of those who had. 

On her screen, Dilara could see Damien moving down a hall. His camera jostled as he picked up his pace. “I just heard a weird noise. I’m going to look for you now, Enoch,” he said. 

Dilara glanced up from her phone. Beside her, Ruby had stopped walking.

“Wasn’t the door we came from around here?” Ruby whispered. “I feel like we’ve been walking for way too long.”

Dilara looked over her shoulder. The hall behind her seemed to stretch on endlessly. But when she looked ahead, the view was identical. The color drained from her face until it was as white as the painted cement walls. 

“Ruby, I think we’re lost.”

A new face popped up on Dilara’s phone. “Guys?” said Morgan. The fear Dilara had seen in her face was clear in her voice as well. “I’m still looking for the kids, but I keep hearing footsteps behind me…”

“Keep moving, Morgan,” Dilara ordered. She motioned for Ruby to keep walking. “Don’t stop, no matter what you hear. Maybe you’ll run into one of us. I think everyone is somewhere in these halls.”

Morgan’s pupils were dilated to an extreme, black pits framed by the smallest ring of blue. “Believe me, I’m not stopping. Is Ruby there?”

Dilara held the camera to show Ruby’s face. “Yes, she’s here.”

“Stay calm,” Ruby said through gritted teeth. “We aren’t stopping until we’ve got you with us. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

Morgan laughed weakly. It was a diminished sound, with none of its usual confidence and scorn. “You’re beginning to sound a little sentimental, Pyrope.”

“So what if I am?” Ruby snapped back. “Just drop it, Morgan. You don’t have to be tough right now.” Her voice shook ever so slightly. “I’m going to find you and everything is going to be okay. Then you can snark it up all you want, but please, take this seriously until then.”

Morgan’s face softened. “Sure. Hey…” She looked away from the camera, embarrassed. “You know that, um… You’re my--”

Her square of the call erupted into static. 

“Morgan?” Ruby snatched the phone from Dilara. “Morgan!”

Something clanked against the stone floor in the hall behind them. Dilara whipped her head around, but there was nothing there, at least as far as she could see.

“We’re in some deep shit,” Ruby whispered.

The noise came again. Dilara grabbed onto Ruby’s arm. Was it her imagination, or was the sound getting closer?

It clanked again. Definitely closer. Dilara locked eyes with Ruby.

_”Run.”_

***

Candace hadn’t known how she would feel when they finally got to the facility. Would her friends suspect anything?

Apparently, they did not.

She had thought there might be at least _some_ suspicion when Hugh broke through Scratch’s firewalls in only a couple days. It should have taken much longer. It should have been impossible. Without her helping, he never would have gotten anywhere. The Union must have a gross overestimation of his ability if they didn’t question it.

It wasn’t to say that he had no skill. He was _very_ skilled. If Candace hadn’t been working by his side for over ten years, maybe she would have suggested to Scratch that they recruit him. But she had had enough of that lisp for a lifetime. It would be too soon if she saw any of the Union members ever again. With any luck, they would all be dead by sundown.

And they still had no suspicion of her. Candace found it incredible. Even after all her lies and misdirection, they still trusted her fully. They really expected her to take down Scratch.

Well, perhaps that was the wrong thing to say. Her aim was certainly to take down Scratch. Who would pass up the chance to take over the most advanced lab of the century? Certainly not her. 

Duncan and Marian were more sensible than the other Union members. They had agreed to work with Scratch, and, more recently, to help Candace overthrow him. But of course the others were not so intelligent. 

She had to be very subtle with her treachery. She would lead the Union through Scratch’s security, but guide them in the opposite direction of the trainees. They would not be allowed to find each other. If they did, she would have to explain to Scratch how they had gotten there. He had placed her in charge of killing them, but definitely not helping them escape. 

Navigating her web of lies was a tricky business, but she managed it with grace.

Candace pulled up the security cameras. She had told Hugh they were set to a loop, but really, she had kept them fully functional. It wasn’t as if he would be able to verify her claim. He had left the cameras to her. He didn’t know half of what she did about Scratch’s servers. 

She flipped through the different cameras, each showing a different view. Ruby and Dilara racing down a hall, hand in hand. Enoch standing stock still. Damien hunched against a wall, panting. Morgan…

“Jeez, does Ampora have to get the blood everywhere?” said Candace, making a face. “He knows I’m going to have to clean that up.”

Candace switched the camera. Marian was walking down the hall, not even bothering to hide herself. But Djimon, her prey, would be too drugged up to see her by this point. The air vents were excellent distributors of lethal gas. He would barely even feel the bullet. 

Candace switched the camera again. There were the trainees, sitting in their little circle, waiting to be rescued. She laughed at their ignorance. They thought breaking one camera would set them free? They thought they would ever escape the facility? 

Sometimes kids started to have dreams that were a little too fantastic.

Watching them was boring. Candace flipped back to the one view that held a bit of interest, turning on the volume.

Morgan’s shrieks echoed against the walls. Candace winced and turned the volume down, leaving it just high enough to hear. 

“How could you do this?” Morgan was holding both hands to her left eye. Blood poured through her fingers, splattering onto the floor, bright red against white. Her features were contorted with pain. “How could you do this to us?” she choked. 

Duncan rolled his eyes. “Listen, you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I ever cared about any of you. Take this as a wake-up call.” He smirked. “An eye-opener, if you will.”

His knife shot straight through her stomach and twisted. Candace lowered the volume again as Morgan screamed louder than should be possible. Duncan’s voice was barely audible when he laughed. 

“None of you matter.”

Candace snorted. “Oh, he does love the dramatics.”

He left Morgan slumped against the wall. Candace watched her struggle to stand and drag herself after him a ways, but, in time, she collapsed to the ground. She didn’t move again.

Candace switched back to the trainees. Morgan’s show was over now. 

They were still sitting in their circle on the floor, far away from any of the equipment. They looked so helpless. It was good that at least some of them had the sense not to be there.

“Like father, like son,” Candace murmured. 

The Hope-born hadn’t needed to tell Scratch his friends were rebelling, he would have found out eventually. But the persistent child had done so anyway. He was loyal in all the wrong places and thirsty for approval. Exactly like his father, who had given up his little boy for experimentation in exchange for only a bit of money and power.

Well, it wasn’t like Candace was any different. She had done everything Duncan Ampora had done, except she had done more of it. The pain of giving up her daughter had lasted no longer than a month. With all the power she gained, the loss was worth it. Scrolling through security tapes of people she called her friends dropping dead caused her no anguish. She merely selected which one was the most entertaining. Others might call her heartless, but she preferred the term “opportunist.”

Dilara and Ruby were still running, but they had strayed from their central hall. They had taken several turns and were now thoroughly lost in the maze of pathways. They were actually quite close to Damien, but another turn threw them off course for reunion. What on earth did they think they were going to accomplish, scrambling around like that?

On another camera, the trainees had all stood up. The Light-born was hovering near the door, and when she stepped closer, it opened. 

Dilara and Ruby kept running. Their pace quickened. Dilara was talking into her phone again.

The Light-born was in the area outside the training room. She couldn’t go anywhere, the transport pad at the hall’s end inhibited her travel.

Dilara and Ruby collapsed onto a transport pad…

Wait.

_What?_

Candace’s interface was open at the speed of light. 

_Hugh, have you gotten in contact with the kids??_

He responded infuriatingly slowly. _Yeah. Everybody’s gotten split up, but I figured out a way to lead them to the kids. Why haven’t you been in the group call? You would’ve heard me say all this barely a minute ago._

How had he _actually_ hacked the server? How hadn’t Candace known? How had she failed to stop this from happening?

_Candace, you there?_

She didn’t respond. She was busy watching her screen intently. Ruby had fallen into the arms of one of the girls, and Dilara was clearly beside herself as she squeezed the Blood-born child close to her. She had always been over-emotional. 

She pondered her next course of action. She could step in immediately and prevent any further security breaches, but then she would blow her cover. She could stay where she was, but then the trainees might have a legitimate chance of escape…

No. What was she thinking? Of course they wouldn’t. It would be fine, all she needed to do was continue on as she was. All of the Union members would be killed, and the trainees would be returned to their usual state of complacency. Yes, it was really quite a simple fix. She had barely done anything wrong.

But first she needed to make sure there was no way they could slip out from under her again.

Candace turned up the volume on the tapes again.

“Yeah, and I just delete her memory of everything that’s happened so she doesn’t stop you,” the Void-born was chattering. She looked awfully pleased with herself. But then her expression changed. “Oh, wait. She’s just seen us again.” 

She looked straight into the camera and smiled.

“Bye-bye again, Candy!”

 _What?_ The statement had obviously been directed at Candace. What did she mean _again_?

Candace had a sinking feeling that she was being played the fool, and that it had been happening much longer than she realized.

She shut off the screen. All of this was wrong. They weren’t supposed to successfully advance their plan. She had had the situation under control until mere moments ago! Where had she gone wrong? Scratch would kill her for sure if they escaped. He would know she had been conspiring against him. He would… 

Suddenly, she couldn’t seem to remember what she was thinking. Her train of thought had just disappeared. Oh, well. It couldn’t have been very important. 

She turned back to the security cameras. Was anyone up to anything interesting yet?

***

Roxy brushed her hands together. “Well, that’s that. She’s forgotten. As soon as she remembers, I’ll do it again!”

“I still can’t believe Candace would do something like that,” Dilara said miserably. “I really, really can’t. Are you sure?”

Roxy shrugged. “Hugh was the one to figure it out. He’s been in contact with me and Terezi for a while and he got suspicious when you got in so easy. Plus you all got separated in about a second flat, which wouldn’t have happened if Scratch didn’t know you were here.”

“When he learned that another woman than Marian showed up on Porrim’s scans, he suspected Candace through process of elimination,” Rose added. “Ruby, Morgan, and Dilara had been active in the group call since the beginning, you could see them walking around, but Candace had just disappeared.”

She glanced at the transport pad. “We may temporarily have a handle on her, but we still haven’t dealt with Duncan or Marian. They pose a very significant threat. And Scratch may discover us at any time, once he realizes what we’ve done to Candace.”

“I’m worried about Morgan,” Ruby muttered. “I’m worried about all of them. I’m going to have a lot of people to punish if our friends are hurt.”

“Speaking of friends, one more should be arriving right about…” Roxy checked her clock.

Damien suddenly appeared in a heap on the transport pad. He groaned and rolled onto the floor. Dilara noticed with a shock that his hands were covered in blood.

“Damien, what happened to you?”

He sat up. “Just exhaustion.” He saw Dilara eyeing his hands and winced. “Oh, this?... It’s not mine.” He braced himself against the wall and stood, leaving a red smear where his hands had touched. “It’s… It’s Morgan’s. I ran past her when I was trying to get here. I tried to help, but...”

Dilara looked at Ruby. Her lips were pressed together into a thin line. “Why isn’t she with you?” she said quietly. 

Damien held up his bloodied hands. “I think you know, Ruby. I couldn’t do anything.” When she didn’t move, he looked around, awkwardly trying to conceal a glimmer of excitement. “Is Rufioh here?”

Karkat was standing a short distance behind Dilara. “No, he isn’t. He went with Eridan, they aren’t trying to escape with us.”

Damien seemed to deflate a bit. “But… why not?”

Karkat shrugged. “He’s scared. Eridan just plain doesn’t want to, though.”

“Amporas,” Ruby growled. She had snapped out of her shock, and now, her cheeks were flushed scarlet with anger. “By God, the whole family must be rotten. I would say the same for Megido, but I don’t know her kids that well. Maybe she’s just the evil one in the bunch.” Her fists were clenched tightly to her sides. “I’ll bring them to justice if it’s the last thing I do. I’ll burn this whole place to ash before they hurt another one of my friends!” 

She glanced up, and startled violently. Enoch had silently appeared on the transport pad as she spoke, making no indication of his presence.

“Holy shit, do you always have to do that?”

“I have never used a transport pad in your vicinity. Therefore, I have never done this before. It is incorrect to claim that I ‘always do,’” he said in his usual quiet voice. 

“You know what I mean.” Ruby let her anger slip as it occurred to her what his presence could mean. Hope flickered through her face for a brief moment. “Have you seen any of the others?”

Enoch slowly shook his head. “The last time I saw anyone but you was at the entrance to this place. Have _you_ seen anyone?”

Ruby shook her head. There was a long pause.

Karkat broke the silence. “So, are we just going to wait for whoever comes next? I know a lot of shit probably just happened to you guys, but we need to get moving before Scratch realizes you’re here.” 

Ruby sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. We can just hope to meet up with them…” She turned to her daughter, allowing her lips to curve upwards slightly. “Well, Tez, it seems like you’ve become quite the strategist since I last saw you. What’s our plan?”

Terezi grinned, showing all her teeth. “We’ll band together and track down those friends of yours, as well as the idiots who decided their loyalties lie with Scratch. Then we can make them pay.” She stretched out a hand, and Ruby smacked it in a high-five. 

Dilara pulled her phone out of her pocket. There was no sign of Morgan or Djimon, but Hugh was scowling in the corner of her screen.

“ _Finally_ , the pickth up the phone!”

Dilara looked guilty. “I’m sorry. A lot has been going on.”

“Tho I’ve heard! Through your coat pocket, mind you. Wath nobody going to inform me that theveral memberth of our party are probably fucking _dead_?” Hugh bristled. “Apparently all I’m utheful for ith hacking.”

“No, no, I never--”

“No, it’th fine. I get it. It’th whatever. Now, let’th take a look at that tranthport pad and retrathe our thtepth ath far ath we can. Ruby, Dilara, you guyth were at Lab when you tharted, right?” Dilara could already see Hugh slipping back into what he liked to call “the zone.” Once in the zone and hacking furiously, he would accept interruptions only in the form of coffee placed wordlessly at his side. 

“The keypadth were one thing… But if it… Hmm? That would work. That would be thmart…” Hugh snapped his head up. “Okay, I have an idea. The maze never thowed up on the litht of dethtinationth for the tranthport padth, right? You wouldn’t be able to get back in uthing one. It probaby brancheth off from thothe dethtinationth… Maybe you need a thertain code or thomething to acceth it? Candace might have thet it tho you would be guided into the maze inthtead of the lab.

If the hath the entranthe code, we can get it from her. Then we can get back in to find Duncan and Marian.”

“I’ve got this,” said Terezi confidently. “Can you take out Candace’s protection?”

“I’ve been working on it thinthe I figured out her game. Give me jutht a minute.” Unusually by Hugh’s standards, he actually did mean a minute. Soon Terezi was planting the desire to tell Hugh the secret of the maze in Candace’s mind. He had the code in practically no time at all.

“I’m tho thmart. Maybe Thcratch would have better defentheth if he had me in charge,” Hugh said smugly. “Now. Thinthe I’m done being utheful, I can move on to what I really want to athk.”

His pleased smile faded into uncertainty. “Ith… Ith Thollux with you?”

Dilara’s lips parted in shock. She had been so stressed and caught up in their predicament, she had forgotten to let Hugh speak with his son. Her guilt welled up into her throat and constricted her voice, but she nodded. “Yes, of course. I’ll put him on.” 

She searched through the small crowd of trainees, most of whom had been watching in curious silence. Towards the back was a skinny, slouching boy with glasses and choppy black hair. His narrow features looked exactly like those of the man on Dilara’s screen, who could only be his father.

Dilara handed him the phone.

He blinked as he took it. Now that she looked, his heavy lidded eyes were of mismatched colors. One brown, one blue. But they shared the same look of fascination as they absorbed the face on the screen. It was as if he were trying to memorize every pixel.

“Thollux?” Dilara heard Hugh whisper. “Uh… Hey. It’th been a long time.”

“Too long… Hi, I gueth.” Sollux tilted his head. “Tho, I hear you’re outthide doing all the important work. Good to know you’re holding up thethe guyth. No offenthe, but I don’t think they know what they’re doing.” He cracked a half-smile.

Dilara had to fight back a snort. The lisp, the cockiness, the appearance. They were more twins than father and son. 

Hugh laughed. “Of courthe they don’t. That’th why they’re tho great. We’re gonna butht you out of there, okay?”

“That’d be nithe.” Sollux’s eyes softened, and his previously joking smile suddenly seemed more genuine. There was a new element of shyness present in the expression, as if he wasn’t used to making it.

Hugh spoke to Dilara. “Hey, you guyth can all pile onto that pad now. The kidth, too. I’ll hook you up tho you can go where you need to go.”

Dilara followed his orders, stepping onto the transport pad with less hesitation than she had the first time. The others squeezed into the space around her. The small surface was cramped with bodies, but they all managed to fit. Dilara opened the menu of destinations on the control screen. She selected “Lab” and pressed enter.

They were gone in the blink of an eye.

When the door she had seen earlier stared her down, Dilara’s gaze did not waver. This time, no one would outsmart her. No friends, betraying. No enemies, plotting. No technological security beyond her comprehension. Nothing.

She would avenge her friends and all their losses. She would make everyone who had caused harm to the world see what they had done. She would make them _understand_.

Dilara stepped off the transport pad and worked through the security measures on the door, remembering Hugh’s instructions. When it opened, it showed a new room, one she had never seen, full of piles of paper and hunks of metal. The lab. Though the destination was correct this time, it was not where she wanted to go. She couldn’t deny her curiosity, but she could investigate once her purpose was fulfilled. She closed the door again and waited for Hugh to enter the access code to the maze. There was a low rumble, and the door slid open a second time. It revealed the same white hallway Dilara had traversed with Ruby.

She took a deep breath and headed inside.

“Let’s try this again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone has a good 4/13!


	18. Liberty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update! Excuses include: got distracted planning other fanfics, emotional recovery from 4/13, etc etc.

The only sound was the quiet patter of footsteps as parents and children alike roamed the halls. Dilara had taken the lead, and close behind her were Ruby, Damien, and Enoch. The group of children trailed along behind them. 

There had been no sign of any friends or enemies. The halls of the facility were eerily quiet and seemingly endless. The silence could almost fool one into thinking no one else was there.

But Dilara knew that somewhere, enemies were roaming. 

She listened as hard as she could as she kept walking. That noise! Where had it come from? Oh, it was only Sollux coughing. Dilara wished the place was not so silent. Tripping over the smallest sound made for a nerve-wracking experience. 

She was not the only one on the alert. Everyone was on edge, and the few words that were exchanged took the form of terse whispers. 

Dilara glanced over her shoulder and did a head check. Everyone was present, thankfully. They couldn’t afford to be divided any further. She turned to face forward, and suddenly, Ruby was throwing her hand out and blocking Dilara’s path.

“Shh,” she whispered. “Did you hear that?”

Dilara didn’t answer. She listened hard. She could faintly hear a woman’s voice somewhere far off. It was a one-sided conversation, perhaps she was on the phone, or, more likely, an interface call. 

Dilara could barely make out what the woman was saying. “Don’t know what she thinks she’s doing… Some of them got out of the maze… Don’t know where they went. It’s her business, though. If she fucks up it’s her own fault. Not gonna complain if we end up taking over her position.” 

“That’s Marian,” Dilara said quietly. “She must be talking about Candace.”

“I think she’s getting closer,” said Ruby, just as quietly. “We should backtrack.”

Dilara shook her head slightly. “No. We can’t let her keep operating, it’ll only bring us more trouble. We need to incapacitate her. Do you know how to knock someone out?”

Ruby nodded. “You pick up tricks when you hang around Morgan.” Her voice faltered as she spoke the name of her friend, but Dilara chose to ignore it. 

“I just said, I don’t _know_ where they went!” Marian‘s voice snapped. “Go look for them yourself if you’re so eager! Candace told me to take care of the one guy, and that’s what I did. The rest are on you… Ew, no. You clean her up. I’m not gonna touch a dead body, that’s disgusting… I’ll just keep lookout here. That’s plenty enough work for me. No, I really think that’s enough. I’ll stay right here. Bye.”

Ruby stumbled into Dilara. Her lips silently formed the words “dead body.”

“We don’t know if it’s her,” Dilara said soothingly. “Come on. You okay to do some knocking-out?”

There was something vacant about Ruby’s expression, as if she was lost somewhere in her own head. But she did not hesitate before nodding. She pressed her fist into the wall beside her, knuckles cracking with the pressure. 

“I might do a little more than knock her out.”

Dilara’s brow furrowed with concern, but Ruby was already striding down the hall towards where Marian’s voice had come from. Her pace increased as she approached a fork in the path, and she broke into a run as she turned the corner. 

“What are you--”

There was a snarl and a slamming noise. Dilara raced around the corner to see Ruby, breathing heavily with her hands around Marian’s neck. There was a trickle of blood seeping from Marian’s hairline. 

“Ruby!” 

Marian’s eyes were shut, and the one blow had clearly knocked her unconscious. Ruby squeezed tighter, and Dilara was just about to shout again, when she released Marian and let her slump to the floor. Only then did Dilara notice the tears running down the her friend’s cheeks.

“Look,” Ruby whispered. 

Dilara glanced down at Marian. She didn’t see what she was supposed to be looking at. She tilted her head slightly, silently asking Ruby what she meant, and her eyes focused over Ruby’s shoulder…

Oh.

Just down the hall was a figure, a woman, fallen to the ground. The surrounding scene was a bloody mass, staining the walls and floor in a crimson pool. The motionless woman’s black hair fell into it like a sickening paintbrush to soak up the color. The blood was most concentrated several feet behind her, and it smeared across the floor right up to where she had come to rest… Almost if she had dragged herself…

Exactly the type of thing Morgan would do.

Dilara felt as though she might be sick.

“Holy shit.”

Dilara turned around. The rest of the group had caught up. Damien was in the lead, staring down the hall at the body on the floor. He looked for only a moment before he had to turn away. His gaze landed on Marian, who was still out cold.

“Took care of her, huh?” He addressed Ruby. She jerked her head in affirmation.

“Let’s move on. We need to find Ampora,” she muttered. 

“Wait.” Ruby glanced up. Karkat had come to stand beside Dilara. “I think we should go and get Eridan and Rufioh.”

Ruby snorted. “Get the Ampora boy to watch while we fight his father? That’s not a good idea, kid.”

Karkat scowled. “He thinks he can impress Scratch if he doesn’t rebel with the rest of us. He just wants approval. But if he sees that no one, not even his own father, gives a flying fuck what he does, maybe he’ll join us. He just needs to realize that no matter what, he’ll always be expendable to Scratch.”

“And what if he doesn’t?”

“Then I’ll fucking make him. He’s one of my best friends, do you think I’m just going to let him stay here?”

Ruby sighed. “Fine. Dilara, is Hugh still on the line?”

Dilara nodded and pulled out her cell phone. “Can you get us back to where we were before?” she asked Hugh.

A heavy sigh came from the phone. “Yeth. And then I thuppothe you’ll want to get back here?”

“Yes, if you can make it happen.”

“Of courthe I can make it happen. Firtht of all you’ll need to go to that tranthport pad you took to get where you are. I got into Marian’th thcreen, the’th got a whole map of thith plathe. I’ll give you directionth… Wait. Do any of you have any thort of paint on you?”

Ruby shook her head. 

“I’ve, um, got nail polish?” Dilara tried.

“Perfect. Get it out and leave dotth on the wallth ath you go tho you know thith path.” Dilara nodded in comprehension and fished the tiny green bottle out of her pocket.

“Now. You’re going to head the way you came and take the firtht right…”

Dilara led the group back down the halls, retracing their steps with the aid of Hugh. Without him they would surely be lost-- every new corridor they turned into looked exactly the same. But his directions were reliable, and, in time, they found themselves facing the transport pad they had appeared on. A quick teleportation, and they were back in the entrance chamber to the training room.

“I’m messaging Eridan,” said Karkat. “I’ll do the same for Rufioh afterwards.”

After a few seconds, he nodded. “They’ll meet us here in a moment.”

Eridan and Rufioh appeared on the transport pad within seconds of each other. They both looked hesitant, but Rufioh’s expression quickly morphed to one of surprise. He and Damien looked at each other in silence for a moment.

Then Damien scooped him into a hug, squeezing tightly. “Hey, li’l man.” Rufioh looked as though he was having a bit of trouble breathing, but he relaxed into the embrace and squeezed back.

Damien let him go and gripped onto his shoulder. “So, I hear you didn’t want to fight,” he said with concern. “You scared?”

Rufioh blushed. “Uh…”

“Don’t worry, there’s no shame in it. Who wouldn’t be scared? ” Damien ruffled his hair. “You’re gonna be fine. We’ll fight together, okay? I wouldn’t let you get hurt when we have ten years of catching up to do.”

Eridan sniffed. “You can’t promise that. You can’t know any of this will turn out well.”

“Oh, shut up, Eridan,” Karkat snapped.

“No, it’s true! There’s no way this can turn out!” Eridan’s voice was angry, but his face told a different story. He was worried. “I…” He gulped. “I told Scratch you were here.”

Karkat rounded on him. His eyes were popping out of his head with fury. “You _what?_ ” he exploded.

“Karkat, chill!” Terezi slapped him on the back. “Did you really not see that coming? It can’t be that big of a deal, or Scratch would have found us already. Roxy’s abilities are taking care of it.” Roxy gave a thumbs up.

“That megabitch Candace won’t be troubling us as long as she can’t remember shit about what we’re doing!” she said cheerfully. 

Eridan furrowed his brow. “So… You actually have a viable plan?” Karkat nodded. “Huh. And I haven’t done anythin’ to ruin our chances of survival?” Karkat shook his head. “Okay… Then, would you… Could you consider lettin’ me come with you?”

“No shit we’ll let you come with us, did you just think we were going to leave you in this hellhole?” Karkat joined Eridan on the transport pad. “Now that you’ve come around we can get the fuck out of here.” 

Dilara sighed. “I do wish you wouldn’t swear like that, dear.” She took a spot beside Karkat and waited for the others to join her before entering their destination, complete with the access code to the maze, and allowing them to be transported away. 

The telltale line of nail polish Dilara had marked their route with stretched down the hall and disappeared around a corner. She turned in the opposite direction, not wanting to come upon what lay at the end of that particular path. And besides, they had already covered that area, and it would not help them find Duncan to go over areas they had already confirmed to be bare of his presence.

“When we find him, you may want to take a slightly less violent approach to his incapacitation,” Dilara murmured to Ruby. “His head need only be slammed to the wall once. There will be no asphyxiation necessary.”

“I’ll do whatever I want to him. He deserves it,” she growled back.

It suddenly struck Dilara how similar Ruby and Morgan could be at times.

“Well, please make an effort not to injure him _too_ badly. We are not aiming to murder. To kill would make us no better than him.”

A hand tapped on the back of Dilara’s shoulder. She turned, and for a split second, the face she saw was Rosa’s.

But the Maryam staring back at her was Porrim, and her face was tense. “Someone is nearby. My scans show that it should be the man who we are looking for.”

Ruby stalked ahead, and this time, Dilara kept pace with her. They made a right, then a left, Porrim telling them which way to turn. Finally, she stopped. 

“He should be around that corner,” she whispered. 

Dilara grabbed onto Ruby’s hand, and they stepped around together.

Dilara shrieked as a bullet whizzed below their clasped hands. It sank deep into the floor behind them and left her ears ringing. 

“That was a warning shot,” Duncan said coolly. “When I’m aiming to kill, I don’t miss.” He lowered his pistol. “So. What’s your game, girls?”

“W-What do you mean?” Dilara stammered.

Duncan sneered. “I said, what’s your fuckin’ game? You gonna try and kill me? You gonna go after Scratch? You think you stand even a one in a thousand chance of escapin’ this place?” His laugh was low and cruel. “You’re all gonna die here.”

Eridan stepped around the corner, his eyes wide and confused. 

“Dad?”

Duncan raised an eyebrow. He seemed neither surprised nor interested. He looked at Eridan as if the boy were a fly buzzing around the room; insignificant, and a little annoying. 

“I don’t know what you’re calling me that for. It’s Mr. Ampora, or, even better, ‘sir.’ I thought Scratch had trained you to have manners.” 

Eridan flinched like he had been slapped. “Why are you siding with him? Why not fight with your friends and family?”

“Hmm, let’s see,” Duncan said, tapping his finger to his chin in mock concentration. “Because none of you have any measure of power or any other reason to make me choose you. Nice job grouping up with the adults, though. I must admit I didn’t see that coming. How did you even find each other?” 

“Like we’d ever tell you,” Ruby snorted. She and Duncan looked at each other for a single moment.

Then she exploded towards him, and the very air seemed to distort with the hatred burning between them.

_”You killed my best friend, you son of a bitch!”_

Duncan chuckled as he ducked beneath Ruby’s swinging fists. Those punches that she did land hardly seemed to have any effect at all, and he hit back twice as hard. She was thrown back with the force of a particularly brutal blow to the jaw, and Dilara leaped in front of her before any more damage could be inflicted. “Stop!”

“Oh, Dilara. You always were naive.” Duncan sneered. “Standing there won’t save her. I’ll just kill you both. You get out of the way, now, or I’ll make y…”

Duncan furrowed his brow and wiped a hand across his nose. Then he drew it back and stared into his palm. It was covered in red, and the rest of the blood he had failed to wipe away was steadily streaming from his nose. 

“Back the fuck off, or I’ll have it coming from your eye sockets,” Karkat growled.

Duncan took a moment to look incredulous before bursting into laughter. “You would try to attack _me_? Your upgrades won’t get more than a nosebleed out of me, I’m a staff member! Or did they not teach you about our anti-rebellion safety measures?”

Karkat’s gaze wavered. It was the slightest weakness, barely perceptible, but Duncan pounced on his moment of hesitation. 

“Yeah, you think you’re such a tough guy with your little revolt. But you won’t get far. It’s amazing you’ve even gotten to me. Your upgrades can’t do anything to anyone with security as high as mine. You should just give up now, head back to your quarters, let us deal with these interlopers, and _maybe_ Scratch will let you off the hook. But you try the same little Blood stunt on him that you did with me? You’re dead. You’re--” 

His spiel was interrupted by a jet of blood erupting from the corners of his eyes. He yelled with pain, then fell into a fit of coughing, drops of scarlet appearing in his hands. “What the hell did you do?” he spluttered. 

Karkat drew a shaky breath, taking in the gory sight that he himself was causing. “Blood-born upgrades sure are a bitch, aren’t they?” A line of blood traced its way down from Duncan’s hairline, and he snarled.

“This shouldn’t be working! What the hell are you playing at?” He lunged at Karkat, but was stopped in his tracks by Rose.

“You have underestimated all those around you,” she said coldly. “They are capable of much more than you realize, whether it be through skill, luck, or the aid of loved ones. Now, Karkat, please drain him enough to bring him unconscious before he throttles me and/or gets blood on my shoes.”

Duncan slowly sank to his feet as blood leaked from his every orifice. He fell into a heap on the ground, and Rose stepped delicately away. 

Dilara stared down at his body, looking absolutely horrified. She had known Scratch’s modifications were extreme, but… This was barbaric. She looked at Karkat, and he appeared shaken, but not disturbed. He had done this before. Perhaps they had all done things like this before.

Oh, how she wished she could have saved them sooner. They may have been children, but innocent was one thing they were not. 

“Are all your abilities like that?” she whispered.

Karkat shifted uncomfortably. “Sorry for making you watch. I’ve got one of the more violent upgrades, I guess.”

Dilara looked at each of the children in turn. She knew Scratch had turned them into assassins, but she just couldn’t believe that any of them would have it in them to murder. 

“You needn’t look so afraid,” said Rose. “None of us will suddenly turn on you, you know. Anything we have done, we have been forced into, and we did not choose to receive these abilities. We are just like you, merely with less good fortune.”

“Good fortune,” Dilara echoed. “Yes, I suppose that is something you are lacking. But don’t think we have any more of it…” It was difficult to keep her sadness from showing. “You have suffered personally, but we have watched those we love punished. We are both unlucky. Just in different ways.” She sighed and looked between Rose and Roxy. “We’ve lost so many… I do miss your mother.”

Roxy tilted her head. “You knew my mom? Or, wait, you’re talking to her, nevermind.”

“No. I am speaking to the both of you.”

“Um…” Roxy stared at Rose. “Wait. Am I missing something here?”

Dilara took a breath. “Oh. He wouldn’t have… Roxy, do you know your surname?” The girl shook her head.

“It’s Lalonde. As in, Rose Lalonde, Roxy Lalonde, and your late mother, Robin Lalonde.”

Roxy’s jaw fell open. “Holy _dick!_ I’m related to Rose!” She threw her arms around her newly-found sister, suddenly beaming. “And we never even knew it! How’s it goin’, sis?”

Dilara smiled. “And not just Rose. I believe these two boys,” she pointed to Dirk and Dave, “go by the name of Strider, and they are your cousins.” 

This was too much for Roxy. She grabbed both boys into her embrace and blushed with excitement. “Oh, my god. So much family! Please tell me there’s more?”

Suddenly, her smile disappeared. She pushed Dirk away and avoided his gaze, her face ashen.

“Oh dear God. I’ve been having incestuous thoughts about my cousin this whole time.”

Dirk snorted, and Roxy’s blush grew darker. “Shut up! I’m…” 

For the second time, any trace of glee on her face disappeared. But this was the effect of no mere embarrassment. Genuine fear flickered across her face as her interface popped open. She let out a startled cry.

“What is it?” Rose asked.

“Oh no, I got distracted! I didn’t think it would happen so quick! She knows now, she told him, she’s coming here, I’m sorry, I was supposed to take care of it!” Roxy wailed. 

Rose’s face closed off. In an instant, she was no longer sister, but strategist. She snapped into action. “I assume you are referring to Candace. Can you erase the memory again?”

“No, it’s too strong now, and she’s already told Scratch. We’ve got seconds till she’s here!”

Rose backed away from the transport pad. “Everyone into the training room. Hopefully we can hold the door and buy a few minutes.” The door opened automatically as she approached it, and the group poured inside. Rose hit the ‘lock’ button as soon as it shut behind them. “If Candace gets in, I doubt she will hesitate to kill us on sight,” she muttered. “We need to regroup.”

Eridan hovered near the door.

“I don’t see why we’ve got to hide in here,” he bristled. “She’s just one lady! We’ve got flippin’ superpowers, we can take her!”

“This is not about avoiding a battle,” Rose said quietly. “It is about deciding how that battle will end.”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“From the accounts I have heard, Candace is a very determined woman. We do not know what tricks she may have up her sleeve. Unlike those workers we have already disposed of, she knows every detail of our personalities and powers, as well as our intention. The element of surprise is no longer on our side. She will not be so easily defeated as her predecessors.” She motioned Eridan away from the door. “We need to use what little time we have to plan.”

“Here’s a plan, kill the bitch and bust out,” Eridan suggested.

“We will not be resorting to murder,” Rose said firmly. “We have come this far with no deaths to the opposing side, and we will keep it that way. We must retain the tiny scraps of moral Scratch has left us with. I am sure the others will agree with me.” She turned to the adults.

Dilara, Enoch and Damien nodded, and Ruby followed suit, if a bit reluctantly. 

There was a loud crash from the entrance chamber. Roxy cast a frightened glance towards the door. “She’s here. What do we do now?”

Rose lowered her voice. “Here’s our plan. First we will use any physically debilitating powers at our disposal. Karkat, Rufioh, Sollux, Roxy, that means you. If that doesn’t work we will move on to interfere with her reason. Any mental abilities should first and foremost be used to stop her in her tracks. Do not cause any extreme damage unless it is necessary. Dilara, Damien, you will be in charge of defending us, Enoch and Ruby, you will join us in the attack.”

A few months ago, Dilara would have found it odd to be taking orders from a seventeen-year-old. But this seventeen-year-old had more fighting experience than any child ever should, and her violet eyes contained a wisdom beyond her years. To listen to her was no oddity. To comply was to do what was best. 

So she nodded silently. And when the door slid open, and the woman she had called her friend smirked from the outside, she moved into a defensive position.

If there was to be a fight, it would be one hell of a good one. 

“Aww, y’all look so fuckin’ adorable!” Candace cooed. “It almost makes me want to take a picture. Are you really tryin’ to stand up to me?”

She stepped into the training room, and the door slid shut behind her. “Your little memory stunt was a nice trick, I’ve gotta say, but it won’t work anymore. I activated some upgrades myself before I came over here. Just some new defenses. No matter how good your hacker may be, he can’t go up against Scratch’s own handiwork.”

She stopped and heaved a dramatic sigh. “I can feel you already trying to take me out. It won’t work! At least have some manners and announce yourself before you go trying to make my heart stop, God.” 

Up until this point, no Union member or trainee had said anything.

“Why should we?” Ruby said simply. “I bet _you’ve_ killed people without announcing yourself.” The anger she had displayed while fighting Duncan had relented. It had by no means disappeared; it was still there, rolling and seething beneath her skin. But she kept it contained. “I bet you’ve killed dozens without a single word.”

Candace laughed. “You’re not too far off the mark. But enough about me, let’s talk about you! If you surrender, I’ll let you go. Not the trainees, of course, they stay here. But you’ll get to live! Think of how nice that’d be.”

“You’re lying.” Ruby’s face remained impassive. “You wouldn’t let any of us go, not after what we’ve seen.”

“Right again.” Candace’s smile disappeared. “Jeez, you’re no fun. Shall we cut to the chase, then?”

She snapped her fingers, and the lights went out. A few sparks flew from the ceiling panels. They would not be back in working order anytime soon. 

Dilara glanced wildly around the room, but the darkness was as thick and impenetrable as a solid black wall. She found herself bumping directly into Enoch. “Where’d she go?” she hissed.

“Right here, darlin’,” a voice snickered in her ear. Dilara startled violently, and her fist flew back. It connected with empty air.

“Good try,” said Candace, somewhere nearby. Dilara heard the swish of air as Enoch swung in the direction of her voice.

“But you’re not quite there,” Candace continued. There was a snapping noise, like elastic being stretched and released. 

“Your abilities aren’t working!” she called out. Her voice was oddly muffled. “Who is that… Ah, yes, the Void-born is at it again. I’ve got special precautions keepin’ _you_ out. Who else is pokin’ around? Could it be little Breath boy? I never would have expected you to get the courage, well done! Or maybe it’s Hugh…”

Dilara edged away from the voice and bumped into someone in the darkness. She grabbed onto them instinctively and leaned down to their height level. “Who’s there?” she whispered.

“Meenah,” the someone breathed back. Dilara’s eyes widened, but she didn’t move. 

“Meenah Peixes?” she asked, her voice barely audible. The girl nodded, and her hair brushed against Dilara’s cheek. The air had a faint, sweet scent to it-- Meenah must have been wearing some sort of perfume.

“My mom is a huge bitch, apparently,” she muttered. Dilara squeezed her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. We can talk about this later, right now we just need to--”

“Survive through the night?” Candace purred, her voice again directly behind Dilara. The woman lashed out at the space behind her, but she received only a laugh as her target moved away. Between her fits of giggles, the breaths Candace took were strangely pronounced, and that muffled effect was still there…

Like she was wearing a mask.

A _gas_ mask. 

Dilara whipped out her cell phone, the lit screen acting as a makeshift flashlight. She got a brief glimpse of Hugh’s panicked face on the other line before she shushed him and held the phone aloft. 

The light cast the unused training equipment into shadow. Nearby, Sollux blinked in the sudden light, and Rose looked up sharply. Dilara could see the spikes of another trainee’s hair sticking up from where they hid behind an exercise machine. She swung the beam towards the edge of the ceiling, searching for an opening, a crack, a vent… There!

In the corner of the room, barely visible, a hazy purple mist blew from an open vent. 

“I see you’ve found the ace up my sleeve,” Candace said, satisfied. Dilara pointed her phone towards the sound. Candace was sitting at a terminal to her right. A mask wrapped around her face, concealing all but her eyes, but Dilara could hear the smile in her voice. “The gas is non-lethal. Just enough to drag you out of here without harming the trainees. Don’t worry… When we do kill you, it’ll be much more painful.”

Dilara was suddenly very aware of her own breathing. She pulled up the collar of her shirt and held it over her mouth. The sickly sweet scent she had tasted on the air and assumed was a perfume was growing stronger, and she knew deep down that a thin layer of fabric would do nothing to stop it. 

A few feet behind Candace, Karkat stood, half invisible with his black clothes against the shadows. The light of Dilara’s cell phone flashed against metal as he pulled out a curved sickle. His eyes did not leave Candace’s back as he slowly inched closer to her. 

What was he doing? He would get himself hurt if he tried to attack! Dilara opened her mouth to give a warning, but Candace had beat her to it. She snapped her fingers, and a training dummy sprung to life, its robotic appendages twitching in anticipation of a strife. 

“Opponent registered,” it droned, sensors fixating on Karkat. A knife flipped out from one of its arms and it began to circle the boy. After waiting long enough for a first move, it lunged forward, and Karkat was thrown into a fierce battle of slashing blades. Dilara made to run to his aid, but Candace blocked her path. 

“I see we’re getting feisty,” she said with a smirk. “But I can’t have y’all tryin’ to cut me up. Here, I’ll give you something else to keep you occupied.”

All the computer stations in the room blinked to life. Those who had unfortunately been hiding in front of one winced and covered their eyes, but the light was not the only danger. Eridan and Porrim had made eye contact with the screens, and instantly, their interfaces opened and they were plunged into a simulation. They sat as if in a trance, completely motionless and slack-jawed. Dilara didn’t think they’d be active again for a while.

The glow of the computers gave the room much more visibility than that of Dilara’s weak cell phone, and it was enough for her to look around and take a brief head count. Meenah was in front of her, Enoch close beside. Karkat was still fighting with the robot, his heavy breaths and the clang of metal on metal pronounced in the otherwise silent room. Rose was by the door, there were Rufioh and Dirk…

Her head was beginning to swim. She drew the cloth of her shirt tighter over her mouth and made an effort to breathe less. There was Dave. Where was Sollux? Oh, there he was, by the treadmill, what about Roxy… 

“Eat shit!” 

Oh no. Roxy had somehow acquired a sword and was running, admittedly not the most accurately, but running towards Candace. She listed badly to the left as she advanced, as if drunk. Dilara lept into her path. “Roxy, no!” 

“I like your spirit, kid,” Candace said with approval. “I’ll make this quick.” She kicked Dilara out of the way and approached Roxy. 

Roxy had just enough time to spit in her face before she took a punch to the side of her head and crumpled to the ground. 

A tinny, far-off voice was yelling Dilara’s name. Was she unconscious already, and dreaming?

_“Dilara, turn your fucking volume up!”_

Oh. Dilara pressed the volume key on her cell phone. Her fingers did not want to obey as she pressed them hard against the button, slipping and making only weak motions, but she finally managed to bring the volume level to maximum.

“You need to find a way to thtop that gath!” Hugh shouted. “I can’t do anything about it, pleathe, you’re going to fucking die if you don’t act _now_!”

Hahaha. He looked like he was crying. He sure did cry a lot when Sollux disappeared… And Dilara had cried too, for Sebastian, and Karkat, and all her friends. Her cheek felt wet, she realized, but it was an impersonal realization. That cheek was not hers. Or, at least, she was not currently inhabiting the body which leaked tears down that cheek. She was floating…

She was floating far away.

***

“Dilara. Please wake up.”

Dilara stirred. There was a dull ache behind her eyes, as if someone were squeezing them, hoping to see if they would burst. She breathed deeply. The air smelled fresher now, no longer reeking of sticky-sweet syrup. She let one eye flutter open. 

Damien and Rose were positioned by her side, the former looking concerned while the latter sat, serene. Dilara realized that she was lying on the floor. She pushed herself up, forcing her arms to remain steady as they bore her weight and propped her upright.

“What happened?”

“I do not know how to explain it,” said Rose. “I have several theories, each more preposterous than the last, but the fact of the matter is that we have won. Against this particular opponent, at least.”

Dilara looked around the room. Most of the children looked shaken, but not badly hurt. Karkat had a long cut down his left cheek. Rufioh’s breaths came shallow. There were no injuries more severe than these, as unlikely as it seemed, and all were alive and well. All except for one.

Beneath a glowing screen, Candace lay still.

Dilara gasped. “Oh, please tell me she’s alive!”

“She is,” Rose assured her. “She is only asleep, and will not be waking any time soon.”

“What about the gas? Didn’t she try to hurt you? How on earth did you manage it?”

“That is where the speculation begins.” Rose rested her chin in her hands. “It was very quick, and I suppose we are lucky that we took action so fast. Right about when you fell, Candace suddenly became vulnerable once more. Our abilities began to take effect. Once we could land hits on her, victory was no challenge. As for the gas, it was taken care of by our Breath-born friend there. He can do magnificent things with oxygen.” She waved a hand in Rufioh’s direction. 

Dilara reached for her cell phone. “I know someone you can theorize with…” Her hand reached into an empty pocket, and she froze. She tried her other pocket to no avail. She patted the flat cloth which should have contained the lump of her phone, panic beginning to spread through her. 

“Looking for me?” Hugh’s voice said dryly. Dilara looked up, and was confronted with the sight of Damien, holding her phone and grinning. She blushed. 

“We’ve been theorizing for a while, and here’th what we think.” Hugh cleared his throat. “Candathe told Thcratch about our rebellion before the came to fight you guyth. The thaid the got upgradeth directly from him, right? Thtronger than before, tho Roxy couldn’t break in or anything. I tried to hack her mythelf, and I couldn’t, that’th how thtrong they were. Tho… Only Thcrath could have dropped her defenthe. And that’th exactly what I think he did.”

“But why would he?” asked Dilara. “He wants us dead, why woud he let us win?”

Hugh’s mouth set into a grim line. “Becauthe we haven’t won. Not really. Maybe he had thome reathon for wanting Candathe out of comithion, but he didn’t do it for our thake, and we thtill have to go up againtht him. I’ve got a plan, though.”

“If we could barely fight Candace, how can we fight him?” Dilara said, her desperation plain. 

Hugh’s grim expression faded and was replaced with quite the opposite: satisfaction. “We don’t have to do it phythically.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that it’th very eathy to record video callth like thith, and that’th exactly what I’ve been doing. When the call endth, the recording will be thaved to my hard drive for my dithtributing pleathureth.” He smirked. “Thee you in court, Doc Thcratch.”

Dilara wouldn’t have even noticed the white-suited man in the doorway if it hadn’t been for Roxy’s gasp. She glanced up and startled violently.

“You’re very clever,” Scratch said. He didn’t appear worried. “I assume it has already occurred to you that I could destroy any and all records you manage to make of your stay here?”

“You’re not invincible,” Ruby snapped. “We beat your guard dog!” She gestured at the fallen Candace.

Scratch frowned. “Perhaps ‘guard dog’ is not the best of descriptions. After all, dogs are meant to be loyal, and she was quite the opposite. I would have preferred it if you finished the job and took her life completely, if I am honest… Let me put your victory to an analogy: say a veterinarian is requested to put an animal to sleep. When the deed is done, they are not the true killer; the guilty party is the owner who deemed their animal’s life over. You are the veterinarian, I am the owner. Your ‘victory’ was only due to my decision.”

“Nobody careth about your offithe drama.” Hugh sighed. “Man, I could be tho much more intimidating right now if I wath actually there. Anyway, yeth, it did occur to me that you could jutht kill me after I thaved thethe videoth… And that’th why they’re rigged to be thent thtraight to the polithe if anyone tamperth with them.”

“Yes, very clever.” Scratch still seemed more amused than anything else. “Is this the point when I am meant to wring my hands and accept defeat?”

“Preferably.”

Scratch shook his head. “No, that will not do. I recognize that you are in a position of slight power now, thanks to my disloyal employees, but you will not hold it much longer. I propose a trade.” He strolled to the center of the room and took a seat at a terminal, turning the chair to face outwards. Dilara scooted back. She felt very silly and vulnerable sitting on the floor, but she did not want to stand up so near to him.

“My experiment with these children has run its course. They are of minimal use to me now. I would like to keep them, certainly, but they have greater value as bargaining chips. Here is my proposal.” Scratch laced his fingers in his lap, looking as calm as if they were discussing something of no more import than last night’s dinner. “I will let the children go, on the condition that you reveal nothing, to anyone, of their backgrounds. If you do, please be assured that I _will_ know. And there is one other catch.”

“What is it?” Rose said quietly.

Scratch smiled. The expression seemed wrong on his face, a flower in a field of corpses. “The parents remain.”

Dilara’s face went white. She and Ruby exchanged an uneasy glance. They would both do it. Any of them would, for their children. But what would be the cost?

Could Karkat manage in a world unknown with no one to guide him? What experiments would Dilara be subject to? Which was more important, her morals, or her kin?

To her, the answer was obvious.

“Absolutely not,” Rose said firmly. “No one will be staying here.”

Dilara rested her hand on Rose’s shoulder. “My dear, I believe we should consider this offer. You can all manage. You’ve certainly been through enough to guide yourselves through a normal life..”

“W-wait.”

Eridan approached from his position in the back of the room. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and tugged on the ends of his scarf. His every movement prickled with uncomfortability. “I… Before I say anythin’, just listen, I haven’t got any family to go home to, not like you guys. If I stayed, in exchange for one parent goin’ free, it wouldn’t be too big a loss, y’know?” He looked to Scratch. “Is that an option?”

“I suppose it would be, yes.”

Karkat groaned. “No, fuck, no. Why does everybody have to be so self-sacrificing? Can’t we just duke it out until one side gives up? It’d be simpler than this shit.”

“If we did, as you say, ‘duke it out,’ Mr. Vantas, none of you would leave this place alive.” Karkat’s name rolled off Scratch’s tongue with a hint of venom. It was not worthy to be spoken by such a god. Trainees, adults, they were all just pawns; far beneath the might of Doctor Scratch. “I am being very generous with you. It would be wise to consider my offer.

“I will give you two days. For now, you may leave, have your last moments together. Do not think of it as escape, rather, a relocation of sorts. Then…” That smile, so unsettling. “Once you have decided who to sacrifice, I will come for you.”

He was out the door befire Dilara could blink. 

“We’ll talk about it later,” Hugh said quickly. “Just get the hell out.”

No one needed to be told twice. They bolted for the door and were on the transport pad in moments, whisked away, racing down the hall, towards the door the _door_ \--

Outside. Fresh air. 

Freedom.

Roxy collapsed onto the concrete. “Holy shit,” she said. “I’ve never been outside before...” Terezi patted her on the back.

“I have, a couple times, for missions. Never here though.” She sniffed the air. “This place smells like stone and crushed dreams. Let’s go somewhere else.”

They meandered from the entrance to the building across the parking lot. On the street, a yellow hoverpod was parked, and the door slammed shut as a figure burst out.

“GUYTH!” Hugh nearly tripped over his feet in his haste, and he stopped short before them. “Oh, God, we’ve got tho much to do. But now I’m jutht gonna be grateful we’re alive.” He winced slightly. “Well… Motht of uth.”

“Thankth to you,” Sollux grinned. He stepped out from behind Terezi, his hands stuffed into his pockets. 

Hugh held out his hand, and Sollux grasped it. It was somewhere between a high five and a handshake, and it suited them perfectly. 

“Can we do the reunions later?” Terezi complained. “I want to leave!” Her mother wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed.

“Sure, kid.” 

Each trainee chose a hoverpod and driver to pile in with, and soon they were flying away. Rose leaned forward from Dilara’s back seat. 

“I have a question,” she said softly. Dilara nodded, making eye contact with her through the rear-view mirror.

“Shoot.”

Rose hesitated. 

“Kanaya is dead, isn’t she?”

Dilara smiled gently. “No, dear. She’s quite all right. In fact, I think she’s being released from the hospital soon.”

Rose’s face flickered across a range of emotions including shocked, relieved, hesitant and hopeful in less than a second. “Can I see her?”

“Yes. She was the one who convinced us to go and look for you, you know. She cares about you very much.”

“Even after everything I’ve done.” Rose sat back and stared out the window, a small smile playing at her lips. “I don’t understand how she could still feel anything for me but contempt.”

The roads passed by, gray and endless, as they traveled back to the city many of them called home. The grasslands turned to concrete and shaped themselves into buildings. Rose watched it all with unseeing eyes. She was safe at last, for the time being. Safe enough to relax and think of the one person whose opinion mattered most. 

Kanaya Maryam. The mysterious girl who could forgive her mother’s murderer, forgive her cause of injury, forgive a liar and an imposter. She still cared about Rose. Perhaps enough to take her back, as a friend, as more? 

The roads running by would not tease. They would only continue silently as Rose smiled out at them, dreaming of the future that came along with freedom. It was funny. She had never been able to imagine having a life, but now she could take any path she dreamed of. She was no longer limited to blood and secrecy. She could do anything, and have anyone.

As long as they would take her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter of this fic will probably be the last, so I'll get this note out of the way here so I can make the ones after next chapter all sappy.
> 
> I will be taking requests from now until my next fanfiction is posted! Got a pairing/prompt/song/AU you want me to write about? Just leave a comment. The only rules are: no incest pairings, no age difference pairings (bro/john, etc). Hit me up B)


	19. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus note on why I chose each name for the ancestors!
> 
> Sebastian- means "revered" because the Sufferer is troll jegus  
> Marian- like, Maid Marian... Handmaid... haha I'm funny  
> Hugh- means "mind, spirit"  
> Damien- means "one who tames" (SuMMonER guys)  
> Dilara- means "heart"  
> Rosa- this one should be obvious  
> Ruby- .... red  
> Morgan- pirate name  
> Enoch- means "dedicated" also sounds cool af  
> Djimon- literally means "strong blood." this is GHB's canon name now  
> Duncan- means "warrior"  
> Candace- means "queen" and sounds like Condesce. perfect

“I am not going to change my mind.”

Dilara sat in the Union meeting room at the head of the long table. Her three friends sat in the seats closest to her, and the trainees occupied the spaces that would once have belonged to the rest of the Union. She gave them all a severe look before they could argue.

“You are teenagers. It is a fact of biology that you do not have the development necessary to make informed decisions. But I am a mature adult, and I recognize the consequences of any decision we could come to.”

“But do you _understand_ those consequences?” Rose said shrewdly. “You will never be free again if you give yourself up to Scratch. You will be forced into despicable actions and any concept of ‘free will’ you retain will be eradicated. You very well may end up fighting us, should Scratch change his mind about letting us go.”

“I recognize every consequence,” Dilara repeated. “All the things you have described come from personal experience, no? It is someone else’s turn to bear your burden. You deserve the chance to live.”

Rose frowned. “I still believe that there must be a way out.”

“There would be, if you’d let me stay behind,” Eridan snapped. “I don’t deserve to be here, I flippin’ betrayed you all!”

Karkat whapped him on the back of the head. “You being an asshole isn’t news to anyone, asshole. That doesn’t mean we’re about to let you swan dive off a cliff because you feel guilty.”

“Let’s put it to a vote,” Dilara suggested. “All who say we parents should remain, raise your hand.”

All the adults raised their hands. Most of the trainees did not, but a few, including Gamzee and Sollux, moved in favor. Dilara counted the votes. The majority indicated that the adults should be saved, and she sighed. 

“Why are you taking their side?” Roxy asked the two boys.

Gamzee answered her. “You just gotta be all up and doin’ what feels right,” he shrugged. “If y’all really wanna give yourselves up, I ain’t gonna be stoppin’ you. It’s your decision.”

“It’th not logical to thave four over twelve,” Sollux muttered. 

Rose was still frowning. 

“Thollux ith right. Trutht me, there ithn’t a way out of thith,” said Hugh. “There jutht ithn’t. Even getting thith far took ten yearth, how do you expect to win in two dayth? One, really. He’th coming tomorrow. And you kidth are _not_ going with him when he comes.”

Terezi slid out of her chair and stalked out of the room. Rose followed after her, closing the door behind them.

“I know how you feel,” she said.

“No, you don’t,” Terezi muttered. “Your mom’s dead. You don’t have anyone to come back to. You don’t have to be separated from your one family member after about twenty four hours together. _Twenty four hours._ That’s the only time I’ve spent with her that I can remember, and it’s all I’m going to get.”

“Perhaps I don’t know how you feel, then.” Rose brushed her bangs away from her eyes. “But I can empathize.”

“I don’t _want_ your empathy,” Terezi hissed. “There’s one person I might stand to talk to about this. But guess what? You fucking killed her. So I’ll just go through this alone, and don’t say sorry, because I don’t want to hear that, either.”

Rose had learned to hide her emotions well since they were returned to her. If the remembrance of killing Vriska caused her any pain, Terezi wouldn’t see it. 

If Rose pitied her, she wouldn’t see it. 

“Do you know much about the aspects?” Terezi asked, surprising Rose, who shook her head.

“Me and Vriska found you through that scientist lady’s files, remember? She had a whole bunch of notes on them. They represent principles as well as literal things.” Terezi didn’t bother trying to hide the sadness that came along with the memory. “Blood is relationships and stuff. Mind is intelligence and thought. Void is absence and potential. Want to know what Light is?”

Rose nodded, and Terezi laughed. Her usual laugh was shrill and grating, more of a cackle, and tended to go on for several minutes. But this laugh was quiet. It was mirthless. 

“Light is luck, probability, destiny and knowledge. It’s so ironic… The only two Light-born I’ve ever known had such dismal luck.” Terezi looked away from Rose. “It makes me wonder. If Light is both luck and destiny, was it bad luck that brought us to this end? Or was it just our destiny to fail?”

“Is there a reason you interpret this woman’s notes so literally?” Rose asked.

“Yeah.” Terezi sighed. “She said that maybe… Maybe, since we had been born in the exact moment of alignment, we developed abilities on our own. Even without the upgrades. That would make sense. We have had a lot of lucky breaks lately, maybe it was due to you. But it just makes me think. If we’re such powerful people, how come we can’t get an ending where everybody lives?” She slid down the wall and sat against it. 

Rose sat down beside her. “Perhaps such an ending doesn’t exist for anyone. No matter your aspect, or alignment, or amount of luck, maybe nobody gets to be completely happy. We just have to make the most of what we have.”

Terezi rolled her eyes. “That’s somehow simultaneously pessimistic and optimistic. You’re a walking cliché.”

“The reason a cliché is considered cliché is because it happens frequently, is it not?”

“Touché.”

Rose smiled. “This conversation is getting ridiculous. Shall we call it quits?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Terezi hesitated. “Hey, could you… Could you call Ruby out here, when you go back in?”

Rose nodded. She stood up and headed back into the meeting room, leaving the door open. Terezi sat and waited. 

When her mother saw her sitting on the floor, she asked no questions. She simply sat down beside her daughter and said, “What’s wrong, kid?”

“I don’t like this plan,” Terezi muttered. “It feels like everything could go wrong. And I don’t want you to leave so soon.” She would not make eye contact.

Ruby wrapped her arm around Terezi’s shoulder. “Hey, it’ll work out. For you, at least. What happens to me doesn’t matter. I just want you to be okay.”

“It matters to _me!_ ” Terezi squeezed her eyes shut. “I just… I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do. I’ve never been able to do whatever I want before, and I know about the world from books and stuff, but not what it’s actually like. And I won’t have anyone to tell me.”

Ruby considered this. “You’re scared?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. You’d be stupid if you weren’t, and no daughter of mine is remotely stupid.” Ruby smiled. “Guess what?”

“What.”

“You will have someone to help you.” Terezi looked up at this, surprised.

“Are you about to pull that whole ‘friends can help you do anything’ bullshit or are to going to tell me something legit?”

Ruby laughed. Against her will, a smile slowly spread across Terezi’s face. That laugh was familiar. It was her own. Less shrill, less extended, but her own.

“Something legit. You’ve got an older sister. Her name’s Latula, she’s eighteen. She’ll take care of you enough to make you feel safe, but not so much to cramp your style.”

“Because my style is definitely what I’m most worried about,” Terezi grinned. “Okay, that does make me feel a little better. But I still don’t want you to go.”

“Well, we’ve got until tomorrow. And who knows! Maybe you’ll see me again someday, if Hugh’s son is half as good a hacker as he is.”

“I don’t know him that well, but I think he might be.”

“Then it’s a guarantee.” Ruby extended her hand to Terezi. “Let’s shake on you not giving up, ‘kay?”

Terezi shook her mother’s hand.

“Now.” Ruby suddenly turned serious. “Let’s talk life plans. I know you’ve probably got all sorts of things programmed into that techno-head of yours, but I want you getting a proper traditional education. That means college. Latula can help you pay for it once she’s a lawyer or a professional skateboarder or whatever it is she decides on.” 

“Oh my God, do we really need to have this conversation now?” Terezi groaned.

“Hell yes! I haven’t seen you since you were tiny, I barely know anything about you! I need to help you get ready for the world! So, what are your passions? What do you hate? Any girls or guys or both you’re interested in?” Ruby wiggled her eyebrows, and Terezi shoved her away.

“Is this really what having a mom is like?”

“Girl, this is having a mom downgraded by a thousand.”

“Guess it’s a good thing you’re leaving, then.” Terezi went quiet.

Hesitantly, she relaxed and let her head rest on her mother’s shoulder. “I’ll miss you.”

“I know, kid. I know.”

***

The trainees and adults had booked a hotel for the two days Scratch had given them. When the second one arrived, Rose and Terezi unlocked the room belonging to Dilara and Ruby.

It was empty. 

Upon inspection, Enoch and Damien’s room was similarly desolate. All their luggage was still on the floor, and a half-empty cup of coffee sat on the counter. They had disappeared without a trace.

But on Dilara’s bed, a note had been left.

_Dear children,_

_I believe that Scratch intended to take us no matter who we decided to sacrifice. Otherwise, he would never have let you free. In case it happens before we can say goodbye, I leave you this message._

_Hugh has sent out the recordings of the facility, but something in Scratch’s confidence worries me. I would not be at all surprised to discover that he has his fingers in the judicial system. But the point of this note is not to make you worry. Do not worry for us, we will be fine. This note is for you._

_You all are going to have a difficult time in life. That much is certain. You will need to hide your backgrounds and forge your way into any careers and schools you may apply for. I think you are prepared to handle that much. But you will also have to conceal a large part of your lives from any friends or lovers you take on, and that will be very hard._

_You will need to stick together._

_I implore you, no matter how you may fight or drift apart, stick together. Remember the experiences that link you. You will need each other’s support, as well as that of all your remaining family members. I have left my, Damien’s, Enoch’s, and Ruby’s banking information on the back of this note. Use it wisely! I will not hesitate to escape from Scratch’s clutches only to provide discipline for irresponsible spending. Also, I have provided the contact numbers for my daughters, Meulin and Nepeta, and Enoch’s sons, Equius and Horuss. I believe most of you have siblings of your own to return to as well! Their addresses are enclosed._

_A personal note to Karkat: please abide with your brother. He means well. You will get used to him in time._

_And, to summarize: use the opportunity we have given you. Find a job, make a family if you wish. Do not trust anything related to Scratch or English Enterprises._

_And most importantly, have good lives. Be happy._

_-Dilara Leijon_

The trainees were silent as they passed the note around.

“So… What do we do now?” Roxy said finally. She and the others looked to Rose expectantly.

“You do not need to act as if I am your leader in this, but I suppose the best thing to do would be to reunite with our families.” Rose reached for the note and flipped it over. On the back were several strings of numbers with notes attached, some addressed to certain kids. She scanned through them briefly and was surprised to find one addressed to her.

_Rose- She’s at Skaia General Hospital. Believe her when she says she still cares._

Rose passed the note back to Roxy.

“Yes, let’s all reconvene with our families… I’ll open a message board so we can stay in touch.” 

“Wait, where are you going?” Roxy asked. Rose’s hand was already on the door handle. She smiled briefly.

“Nowhere. I just need to fix another harm Scratch has caused.”

The trip to Skaia General Hospital was a short one, to Rose’s relief. There was a transport pad in the hotel’s lobby that took her directly there. She hurried to the receptionist, asked after Kanaya Maryam, and was directed to the sixth floor. The elevator ride gave her time to collect her thoughts.

What should she say? She would apologize, of course, but what else? Was there anything else that needed to be said?

Rose decided to wing it. After all, if what Dilara said* had been correct, Kanaya wouldn’t hold it against her if Rose didn’t know what to say. 

The door to Kanaya’s room was plastered with stickers and well wishes. Rose took the time to read each card and slogan before her fingers brushed against the doorknob. She could do this. She was not stalling. She had just escaped from one of the most powerful men in the nation, of course she could do this.

She opened the door. 

Kanaya was sitting on an armchair in the corner of the room, stitching up what appeared to be a pair of pants. She glanced up to the door, and it took a moment for her visitor’s identity to sink in.

When it did, she dropped the garment and ran.

“Rose!”

“This is admittedly a more positive reaction than I expected,” Rose said as Kanaya plowed into her and hugged her fiercely. 

Kanaya let her go after a moment. “What else would you have expected?” she said breathlessly. “You saved my life!”

The lumpy bandages beneath Kanaya’s shirt did not escape Rose’s notice. “I did no such thing.”

Kanaya shrugged. “Well, you tried to. That man would have killed me had you not fought him off.”

“I did not fight him off.” Rose winced. “I got you injured.”

Kanaya looked her in the eye. “Rose,” she said patiently. “If you are blaming yourself, please cease this instant. I do not attribute one ounce of blame to you. In fact, I have been very concerned for your well-being, more so than mine, and I am very glad to see you.”

“Forgive me for my skepticism. Do you not recall that I orchestrated the circumstances of your mother’s death?” Rose held her breath as Kanaya’s smile faded. 

“I do recall. Her loss hurt me very deeply, and I suspect it will only get worse with time.” She took Rose’s hand. “But I will heal,” she said steadily. “And I forgive you, for your skepticism, and for any crime you have been forced to commit.”

Rose looked away. “That does not erase my guilt,” she muttered. 

“That is true,” Kanaya conceded. “Once something has happened, it has happened, and nothing can change that. But I will do anything I can to ease your feelings of guilt.”

Rose sighed, a small smile appearing as she looked back to Kanaya. “You are incredibly kind, you know that?”

“I know that you think so. Personally, I believe that I am only treating you as you deserve to be treated.” Kanaya sat down on the edge of her hospital bed. She took a deep breath. “Anyhow. How did you come to be here? Ms. Dilara’s rescue mission was a success, I take it?”

Rose grimaced. “In a way. What measure of success we accomplished came at the cost of Dilara and her cohorts.”

Kanaya gasped. “Are they… They could not be!”

“No, they are not dead. Scratch took them in exchange for letting us go free.”

Kanaya looked alarmed. “He just let you all go? To fend for yourselves? What about the Academy?”

“Several of the Union members turned out to be spies for him, including Candace, the headmistress…” Rose trailed off. “Now that I think of it, he must have been controlling the Academy’s affairs all along. We will not be able to return there.”

Kanaya’s face fell. “I… Oh. You are not staying, then?”

“I doubt that you will be, either,” Rose reminded her. “Your sister was among our numbers, and your mother is… You have no family here. You cannot stay.”

“I had not considered that. And even if I do go with you, I may still be without a family.” Kanaya hesitated. “I am a bit nervous to meet Porrim. We have not seen each other in a very long time, and I am afraid she will be disappointed by her last remaining relation. If she wants anything to do with me.”

“Oh, hush.” Rose took a seat next to Kanaya. “She would never abandon you. She has no reason to, and I am sure she is very excited to see you. Anyway, if you come with us, you will meet many others besides Porrim. Dilara asked us trainees and assorted relatives to stick together, so… We can be your new family, if you would like.” 

“I would like that very much. Though, I will not consider you a family member-- it would make romantic relations a bit awkward.” Kanaya blushed. “Oh, my, should I not have said that? I had intended to wait before broaching that particular subject. Feel free to ignore me if you are so inclined.”

“I understand why you would wish to leave the subject for later, but now that it has been brought to light, we may as well discuss it.” Rose kept her voice casual, but her heart tripped with anticipation. “What are your thoughts? I would not object if you wanted to discontinue everything we might have had due to certain revealed information.”

“Oh, no, that is the opposite of what I want!” Kanaya said eagerly, then paused. “Did that sound too earnest? Here, let me explain. We are both going to need to recover from the things Scratch has done to us. I believe we are both still in the ‘denial’ stage. But when we move on, we will need each other’s support. I will need you, because you are the only one who could understand. Yes, there are other people around who have encountered him, but that is not all I need. You understand _me_.”

“What good is understanding when I am the one who has caused your hurt?”

Kanaya blinked. “But is that not the case in most relationships? One hurts the other, apologizes, and the hurt one wishes for comfort from that person afterwards?”

“I would think that this is a bit more serious a problem than most relationships would have.”

“Oh.” Kanaya seemed at a loss for words. “I know that it is, but I believe we can work past it… But only if you want to. If you do not want, please tell me now.”

Rose shook her head. “I do want to continue as we have been, but I am a little shocked you could find it within you to forgive me. Even for someone with your level of kindness, that is extreme.”

“But it is not you who I need to forgive. You never wanted to do me any harm. It is Scratch and _only_ Scratch to whom I must pledge my hatred,” Kanaya said emphatically. “You did nothing wrong, nothing of your own accord at least. Of course I forgive you for the things you did under the threat of death.”

Rose paused.

And slowly, slowly, she let her head fall to rest on Kanaya’s shoulder.

“I will forever be in your debt,” she murmured. “Without meeting you, I never would have been inspired to escape him.”

“You would have,” Kanaya said confidently. “You are a good person at heart. Even Scratch could not keep you from realizing it eventually.”

“I am not sure if I have realized it yet,” Rose sighed.

“Shh.” Kanaya’s fingers alighted on Rose’s head and began to softly stroke along her hair. “Do not forget, I am not the only one who will need support as time passes. You have been hurt very deeply. You have been forced to kill, and forced to see yourself as beyond redemption, and you cannot recover from wounds like that alone. Please let me help you.”

Rose was silent for a moment. “If you wish.”

“Rose,” Kanaya said gently. “How can I convince you that I do not blame you in the slightest?”

Rose shrugged weakly. “How can I convince myself?”

Kanaya shifted to the side, so Rose could sit up and they would face each other. She placed her hand on Rose’s shoulder.

“Do not focus on the bad. Goodness knows there is too much of it in your past, so please, focus on the present and the good. I am here. We are going to stick together and support one another, and even if the romantic aspect of our relationship did not work out, I would stay by your side.”

This coaxed a small smile from Rose. “I do hope it works out. I would be hard pressed to find someone as understanding and forgiving of my background as you.”

“Are you finally seeing that I forgive you?” Kanaya smiled.

“Perhaps. Beginning to, at least.” Rose suddenly felt shy. “But enough talk of the past. Let us focus on the present, as you said. Or maybe the future?” Her heart beat fast, but it did not make her feel weighed down. It made her feel light. As if she could float away on the wind. “Kanaya, I hope you have not forgotten what it was like when we were together. It was so lovely. And I really, really would like to continue that way.”

“Rose, if this is a convoluted way of asking whether or not you are still my girlfriend, I believe we have established that the answer is yes.”

It was Rose’s turn to blush. “It was not a-- well, actually. I guess it was. Thank you for the confirmation.”

There was a second of awkward silence. Then Rose lifted Kanaya’s hand from her shoulder and rested it in the space between them, not letting go. 

Kanaya shifted it up to Rose’s waist.

Rose did not make a sound, for fear that Kanaya would move. Her face was hot as she mirrored what Kanaya did.

“In case you are still wondering,” Kanaya whispered. She leaned in close, so close Rose could count her eyelashes if she tried. She could feel Kanaya’s breath. Her pupils were dilated into black holes, eating away at the green iris around them. Rose’s hand was still on her waist. And Kanaya’s was still on hers.

And then Kanaya was kissing her, and she couldn’t quite remember how to breathe.

Kanaya’s lips were soft and warm, and startlingly more _real_ -feeling than Rose would have anticipated. She did not move away. She melted into the kiss, her fingers curling around the fabric of Kanaya’s shirt and pulling her close. For once, no intrusive thoughts came to disrupt her bliss. All she could think of was the feeling of being so connected with the girl she loved. 

She… 

Loved.

Rose loved Kanaya.

This really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her, but it did anyhow. It was a bit surprising that she even had the capacity to love, given how twisted her soul must be after years of spilled blood. But she did. She did, and as she held Kanaya she vowed to let nothing come between them.

“Kanaya?” she whispered.

Kanaya drew back, her green eyes searching. “Yes? Was that all right?”

Rose smiled. “Yes, it was perfect. Let’s do that some more. I just wanted to say… I think everything is going to be okay. I’ve got you, and you’ve got me, and we can take anything this world throws at us. Do you agree?”

“Yes. I do.” 

Kanaya pulled Rose into a hug. They stayed there, wrapped in each other’s arms, for what felt like a small eternity. There were three words Rose was tempted to say, but she didn’t need to. Their embrace said it all.

Besides, she had the feeling Kanaya already knew.

She had the feeling Kanaya felt the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I pulled a Hussie. The fate of the ancestors is up to you! (don't hate me)
> 
> Otherwise, I hope you've enjoyed reading this fic as much as I have enjoyed writing it. To think, this story was once six chapters and horribly underdeveloped... (Special thanks to Rose for transforming it).
> 
> It's been a great ride on the gay train, but this is our stop. I hope you all have a good day and thank you so much for reading!


End file.
